PARIS, July 5 (Xinhua) -- China and France should champion multilateralism and safeguard the rules of free trade in the face of unilateral bullying that adversely impacts the international order, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Friday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.

Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China and France have maintained high-level exchanges, strengthened strategic coordination, and enhanced mutual understanding and trust, Wang noted.

The two sides have successfully held meetings of the China-France high-level dialogue mechanism on people-to-people exchanges, calling for leveraging the strengths of both civilizations to promote mutual learning and to break down artificially created barriers, he said.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and the founding of the United Nations. Over the past 80 years, China and France have made right strategic choices at multiple critical historical junctures, jointly influencing and shaping global development, which demonstrates that China-France relations are strategic and forward-looking, he said.

At a time when unilateral bullying adversely impacts the international order, China and France, as permanent members of the UN Security Council and major independent countries, should once again embrace their mission of the times, champion the practice of multilateralism, safeguard the rules of free trade, and work together to take responsibility for world peace, contribute to global development, and promote human progress, said Wang.

He also expressed his belief that the French side will continue to abide by the one-China principle and safeguard the political foundation of bilateral relations.

China and France have established a "from the French farm to Chinese dining table" whole-chain rapid coordination mechanism, demonstrating the high-level practical cooperation between the two sides, said Wang, expressing the hope that France will work with China in the same direction and make the pie of cooperation bigger.

Wang urged the two sides to continue deepening cooperation in traditional key fields such as nuclear energy, aviation and aerospace, and expand cooperation in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, green energy, biotechnology and the silver economy.

China encourages competitive Chinese enterprises to invest in France, and hopes the French side will provide a fair, transparent, non-discriminatory and predictable business environment for them, he said.

China and the European Union (EU) have resolved the brandy issue through friendly consultations, which has fully demonstrated the two sides' capability to properly handle frictions, Wang said, expressing the hope that France, as a core major power in the EU, advocate of free trade and leader in green transition, will play a constructive role in urging the EU to resolve differences in the same spirit.

For his part, Barrot said that in today's complicated international situation, France-China and EU-China relations should provide more stabilizing and rational forces for the world, noting that France and China have maintained close high-level exchanges and achieved positive results in practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

Both France and China uphold multilateralism, and France looks forward to strengthening communication and cooperation with China to jointly address global challenges, he said.

The French government pursues the one-China policy and this position remains unchanged. France attaches great importance to the EU-China partnership, and expects to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the EU and China as an opportunity to deepen cooperation, he added.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis and the Iranian nuclear issue. Enditem