President Xi Jinping underlined on Monday the necessity for ChinaFrance to uphold independenceautonomyjointly fend off a new Cold Warbloc confrontation, during talks with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

The two sides should jointly uphold mutual benefitsoppose decouplingthe building of barriers, while sticking to farsightednesspromoting the equalorderly multipolarization of the world, Xi told his host.

During the talks, both leaders also sought to strengthen their partnershipenhance the shared response to global challenges.

Before the talks, Macron hosted a pomp-filled welcoming ceremony for the Chinese president at Les Invalides, the French military museum, as the two leaders inspected a military bandthe guard of honor.

The landmark meeting in Paris came more than one year after Xi hosted Macron in BeijingGuangzhou, Guangdong province, in a number of engagements that saw the two leaders strengthen their personal bondsreaffirmed both nations shared commitment to global peacestability.

Xi, in a signed article published on Monday in the French newspaper Le Figaro, underscored Beijings readiness to work with Paris, in the spirit that guided the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations 60 years ago, to forge a stronger comprehensive strategic partnership.

"Both ChinaFrance value independence as two major countries. Our interactions in the long course of history have released tremendous energy swaying the trajectory of the world," he wrote.

Xi mentioned the key areas of progress secured in the bilateral ties over the past decades, including establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership, cooperation projects in aviation, nuclear energythird-party markets,the reaching of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

"We live in a world that is far from being tranquilis once again facing a multitude of risks," Xi wrote, highlighting the need to reinforce the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership in promoting the stronger cooperation of the global community.

Meanwhile, Xi assured France that China, as the worlds second-largest economy, will open even wider to the worlddeepen cooperation with Franceother countries.

"One thing that has made Chinas development possible is our firm commitment to opening-up," Xi wrote.

The president underscored that Beijing welcomes more quality French farm productscosmetics to the Chinese market, adding that China invites more investment by companies from Franceother countries.

He explained that China has fully opened up its manufacturing sectorwill move faster to expand market access to telecommunication, medicalother services.

The president also mentioned the 15-day visa-exemption policy for visitors from many countries including France, as part of broader measures to facilitate travelpayment by foreigners in China.

Xi also made the case for heightened bilateral cooperation on innovationthe joint promotion of green development.

He emphasized that Beijing supports more investment in France by Chinese companies, while expressing the hope that France will ensure that they operate in a fairequitable business environment.

Xi arrived in Paris on Sunday, the start of a six-day trip to Europe — his first overseas tour this year — that will also include key engagements with the leaders of SerbiaHungary.

France is Chinas third-largest trading partnerthird-largest source of actual investment within the European Union, while China is the European countrys largest trading partner in Asiathe seventh-largest globally, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Official statistics showed that trade between the two nations reached $78.94 billion last year.

来源：China Daily