Xi Jinping Offers To "Break New Ground" With France After India Unveiled New "Defence Production Roadmap"

After India and France unveiled a new "defence production roadmap", Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted his focus on China-France ties and offered to "break new ground".

Speaking on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France, Xi urged the two countries to "jointly open up a path of peace, security, prosperity and progress for human development."

With Xi's proposal to make China-France comprehensive strategic partnership more solid and dynamic, China offered to step up French imports to the country, as per Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Chinese state media hailed scientific and technological cooperation between France and China and said, "From aerospace and the nuclear industry to renewable energy, the two countries have made significant strides in joint research and development."

This comes after India and France reached agreements on defence space partnership, satellite launches, joint research in clean energy, health care cooperation and collaboration in the field of public administration.

French President Emmanuel Macron was in India as the Republic Day guest amid the growing defence ties between India and France. The cooperation between the two countries in the Indian Ocean is also concerning for China.