Q: What are the issues that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will discuss China’s position on? What does China expect to achieve through his visit to Spain and France? 

A: The Munich Security Conference is an annual forum on international strategy and security policy with important global influence. China has sent high-level representatives to the conference multiple times. The world is undergoing accelerating changes and has entered a new period of turbulence and change. Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi will attend the conference to elaborate on China’s propositions on building a community with a shared future for mankind and advocating an equal and orderly multipolar world.

Spain is a major country in the European Union and China’s comprehensive strategic partner. Wang Yi’s visit to Spain is happening as the Year of the Dragon kicks off and China-Spain diplomatic relations enter the second 50 years. It will also be Chinese foreign minister’s first visit to the country in nearly six years. Both sides attach great importance to this visit and Spain has made thoughtful and cordial arrangements. China hopes that this visit will enable both sides to further implement the common understandings reached by the two heads of state, continue the friendly atmosphere of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, consolidate mutual trust, enhance friendship, promote cooperation and enrich the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership.

China and France are both permanent members of the UN Security Council and independent major countries. This year marks the 60th anniversary of China-France diplomatic ties. Last month, President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron exchanged congratulatory messages and delivered video speeches, stressing that the two sides need to work together for a more solid and dynamic China-France comprehensive strategic partnership for the next 60 years. Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to France will be the first important visit between the two countries this year. He will hold bilateral meetings with the French side and co-chair a new round of the China-France Strategic Dialogue with French President’s Diplomatic Adviser Emmanuel Bonne. China hopes to work with France to further deepen strategic communication, consolidate political mutual trust, advance practical cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and enhance communication and coordination on multilateral issues to jointly steer China-EU relations toward sound and steady growth, and contribute to global peace, stability, development, and progress.