In 1964, France resumed diplomatic relations with China, and since then, both countries have engaged in frequent high-level exchanges, signed several agreements, and deepened their partnership. Despite this, the relationship has faced challenges due to differences in political systems and values.
France is the first major Western country to enter into diplomatic relations and establish full partnership with China. On May 16, 1997, President Jiang and visiting French President Chirac signed the Joint Sino-French Statement, deciding to establish full partnership towards the 21st century.
Today, Sino-French relations are primarily economic. Bilateral trade reached new high levels in 2000. Cultural ties between the two countries are less well represented, though France is making an effort to improve this disparity.
China entered into diplomatic relations with Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Maldives in Southeast Asia and South Asia, seven countries including Iran, Turkey and Kuwait in West Asia and the Middle East and five countries in South Pacific such as Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
Since Macron took power in France, Russian-French relations have remained at a stand-still.
France is actively involved in very close defense relations with its principal European allies, the UK and Germany, as well as with the United States.
France is Germany's closest and most important partner in Europe.
China and Russia are each other's biggest neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of coordination. We are both major countries in the world and permanent members of the UN Security Council. Both countries uphold an independent foreign policy and see our relationship as a high priority in our diplomacy.
Pakistan and China have long praised the close ties the two countries have with each other.
The bilateral relations have since demonstrated a good development momentum. During Prime Minister Blair's visit to China in October 1998, the two countries issued a joint statement, formally announcing the establishment of an all-round partnership between them.
In 1982, Brazil and China signed their first Science and Technology Cooperation agreement. The two countries have successfully cooperated in the field of space. Among the most successful space cooperation projects were the development and launch of earth monitoring satellites.
1907: Signing of the Franco-Japanese Treaty of 1907. France took the lead in creating alliances with Japan, Russia and (informally) with Britain.
The EU and China are each other's largest trading partner as of 2023. The EU is the PRC's largest trading partner, and the PRC is the EU's largest trade partner. In 2023 China accounted for 9% of EU goods exports and 20% of EU goods imports.
NATO's founding member countries were: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.
At the end of 2021, of the 98 countries for whom data was available, Pakistan ($27.4 billion of external debt to China), Angola (22.0 billion), Ethiopia (7.4 billion), Kenya (7.4 billion) and Sri Lanka (7.2 billion) held the biggest debts to China.
But relatively few will remember a historical fact that underpins the ceremony: China was the first country to enter what would become the Second World War, and it was the ally of the United States and the British empire from just after Pearl Harbor in 1941, to the Japanese surrender in 1945.
The United States and China Became Allies
While American bombers used Chinese air bases to strike Japanese targets, the Chinese continued to shoulder the burden of the ground war as Allied attention initially stayed focused on Europe.
Similarly, a 2017 opinion poll by the Moscow-based non-governmental think tank Levada-Center states that Russians identified India as one of their top five "friends", with the others being Belarus, China, Kazakhstan and Syria.
China and Russia are each other's biggest neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of coordination. We are both major countries in the world and permanent members of the UN Security Council. Both countries uphold an independent foreign policy and see our relationship as a high priority in our diplomacy.
Although they have no formal alliance, the two countries do have an informal agreement to coordinate diplomatic and economic moves, and build up an alliance against the United States.
France and Britain are often still referred to as "historic rivals", or with emphasis on the perceived ever-lasting competition between the two countries. French author José-Alain Fralon characterised the relationship between the countries by describing the British as "our most dear enemies".
Britain was the common enemy of France and America.
Between 1793 and 1815, under the rule of King George III, the Kingdom of Great Britain (later the United Kingdom) was the most constant of France's enemies.