On November 24, 2023, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met the press alongside French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna after their talks in Beijing.

A journalist asked about how to view China-Europe relations under the current circumstances. Wang Yi said that the current international situation is volatile and chaotic. China firmly supports Europe moving toward unity and self-improvement, and always believes that Europe is an indispensable part of a multi-polar world and a vital pole in global stability. As two major forces, markets and civilizations in the world, China and Europe should uphold independence, maintain historic focus and determination, defend the right path forward, and confirm and deepen the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.

Wang Yi pointed out that China and Europe should be the practitioners of multilateralism, stick to resolving crises through dialogue and negotiations, resolutely facilitate international cooperation to address challenges, and jointly promote multilateralism and global governance. As long as China and Europe join hands, bloc confrontation will not occur, the world will not fall apart, and a new Cold War will not take place.

China and Europe should be the advocates of openness and development. The essence of China-Europe cooperation is complementarity of advantages and mutual benefit. "Of course, there will be competition within cooperation, but we should not be afraid of cooperation because of competition. The risk that needs to be removed most is the uncertainty brought by politicization, and the dependence that needs to be reduced most is the tendency to resort to the shackles of protectionism. We will listen to the voices of the European business community, earnestly solve the problems of the investors coming to China, constantly improve service and capability, and build an internationalized and law-based business environment." The two sides should jointly enhance the reliability and stability of China-EU economic and trade relations, and jointly maintain smooth and stable industrial and supply chains.

China and Europe should be the promoters of dialogue among civilizations. Where the world goes is largely dependent on how humans handle their differences. China and Europe should conduct communication and dialogue in the spirit of openness and inclusiveness, and achieve common progress and development through mutual learning. China looks forward to increasing personnel exchanges, deepening people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and strengthening the bonds of friendship with more European countries.

Wang Yi stressed that France, a core major country of the European Union (EU), supports the strategic autonomy of the EU, and stays committed to building a China-EU partnership featuring mutual trust and mutual benefit. China is ready to continue to work with France to achieve greater development of China-EU relations.