Chen Ping, vice governor of Hubei Province, met with French Ambassador to China Bertrand Lortholary on May 19, in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei Province.
Chen expressed her warm welcome and stressed that Hubei and France have established close cooperative relations in the areas of high-level visits, economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.
She added that more than 110 French enterprises have settled in Hubei. Last year, the province’s total volume of foreign trade with France amounted to approximately 10 billion yuan, showing the strong vitality of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
Chen stressed that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Consulate General of France in Wuhan, and next year will mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-France diplomatic relations. It is hoped that the two sides will jointly build the Sino-French Ecological Demonstration City in Wuhan, strengthen cooperation in wetland protection and climate change, and deepen cooperation in culture and tourism, so as to push friendly exchanges to a new level.
Bertrand Lortholary shared the achievements of exchanges and cooperation between France and Hubei, and expressed his confidence in the prospects of bilateral cooperation. He noted that more French companies will choose Hubei, with the aim of promoting cooperation in emerging industries, health care, culture, education, environmental protection and sports.
Jean-Yves Roux, consul general of France in Wuhan, attended the meeting. (en.hubei.gov.cn by Zhang Yawei）