French President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during their meeting at the start of an international conference in support of Afghanistan in Paris June 12, 2008. (Xinhua/Yan Ming)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in Paris on Thursday that his country would continue to push forward the development of strategic partnership between China and the European Union.

Sarkozy made the remarks when meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who is in Paris to participate in an international donors' conference for Afghanistan.

The French president promised that France would try to make the development of EU-China strategic partnership a common position across the 27-nation European bloc in the next half year when it holds the rotating EU presidency.

He reaffirmed France's support to the Beijing Olympic Games, wishing the sport event a success.

On his part, Yang said the Chinese government had always review and handle the Sino-French relations from a strategic perspective and strive to promote them.

He expressed the hope that the two sides make joint efforts to remove obstacles of various kinds and bring bilateral ties back on the track of healthy and stable development, which is in the basic interest of the peoples of China and France.

The Olympic Games and the 7th Asia-Europe summit in Beijing and the 11th Sino-EU summit in Paris this year would provide opportunities for the development of China-EU and Sino-French ties, Yang noted.

In the spirit of mutual respect and benefit, China is willing to join hands with France and other EU member states to ensure the success of the mentioned events, he said.

The Chinese minister also met with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner before attending the donors' conference for Afghanistan.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2008)