On November 24, 2023, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna jointly attended and addressed the inauguration ceremony of the China-France Carbon Neutrality Center as each side's coordinator of the China-France high-level dialogue mechanism on people-to-people exchanges.

Wang Yi said that the joint establishment of the carbon neutrality center is an important common understanding reached by President Xi Jinping and President Emmanuel Macron. With the joint efforts between the two sides over the past six months, the China-France Carbon Neutrality Center has been translated from vision into reality and is inaugurated on the eve of the forthcoming United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, sending a strong message that China and France will work together to strengthen cooperation in green technologies and jointly respond to climate change.

Wang Yi said that China and France worked together to promote the conclusion of the historic Paris Agreement eight years ago at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. The two heads of state have coordinated positions recently for the COP28 which shows once again the readiness of the two sides to jointly tackle global challenges. China is willing to work with France to continue to take the lead to open up new prospects for bilateral cooperation, inject new momentum, and make new technological achievements deliver benefits to all people. Wang Yi expressed the hope that the experts of the two countries will pool their vision and create synergy and play the role of the center as a platform, so as to make a positive contribution to the green and low-carbon transition and development of the two countries.

Catherine Colonna said that responding to climate change and protecting biodiversity are the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state and the important content of practical cooperation. The inauguration of the joint carbon neutrality center reflects both sides' ambition and achievement in expanding innovation and cooperation on the low-carbon transition and development, jointly protecting the Earth, and serving the common interests of mankind. The French side is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with the Chinese side and make the COP28 a success.