The warm welcome President Xi Jinping received upon his arrival in Paris on Sunday, which marked the beginning of the first leg of his six-day back-to-back visits to France, Serbia and Hungary, is a telling sign that despite the great changes the world has seen since his last trip to Europe nearly five years ago, Sino-French relations retain their strong momentum.

The two countries have maintained effective strategic communication and fruitful practical cooperation over those years, deepening people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and engaging in sound communication and coordination in international and regional affairs under the guidance of Xi and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

The worldwide attention being paid to Xi's visit speaks volumes about the responsibilities the two countries shoulder as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and the roles they are expected to play in stabilizing the global industry and supply chains, and safeguarding world peace and stability. As such the outcomes of the talks between the two leaders on China-France relations, China-EU relations and international and regional hotspot issues are highly anticipated.

The two sides have great potential and space to further strengthen their communication and coordination to uphold a fair and just world order centered on the United Nations and to strengthen their cooperation to address the common challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.

The structural complementarity of the two economies means there is much scope for deepening their cooperation in clean energy, nuclear energy research and development, and forest carbon sinks, as well as artificial intelligence, aviation and aerospace, and agri-food products.

All peace-loving countries hope that candid and extensive talks between the two sides will be productive and serve the common good of the world, which for too long has been hijacked by shortsighted geopolitical scheming of some certain countries, which have opted for bloc confrontation, zero-sum practices and a Cold War mentality as the means to preserve their undue privileges.

The steady development of Sino-French ties can also help consolidate Sino-EU ties which can act as an effective counterbalance to the negative influence of these self-serving cliques, which is a risk creator rather than a risk reducer. Led by some armchair ideologues, the actions of these countries are sabotaging global efforts to address common challenges rather than contributing to efforts to find solutions.

It is to be hoped that through this visit, China and France can carry forward the good tradition of friendly relations, and further enhance political mutual trust, solidarity and cooperation, so that the two major players on the world stage can jointly elevate their comprehensive strategic partnership and in so doing help stabilize the China-EU relationship, and make new contributions to global peace, stability, and development.