Xi attends welcome banquet held by Macron

Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan on Monday attended a welcome banquet held by French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Before the banquet, Xi, Peng and Macron, Brigitte posed for photos.

Xi and Peng also exchanged greetings and had cordial conversations with representatives of French celebrities from all walks of life who were invited to the banquet. While giving a toast at the banquet, Xi said that China and France are special friends and China-France relations are a special pair of relations among those between major countries in the world. The specialty of China-France relations lies in independence. Six decades ago, General Charles de Gaulle resolved to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. It was not easy to make this independent decision at the height of the Cold War, Xi said.

Since then, generations of leaders of the two countries have viewed and handled their bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective. The first Western head of state to pay an official visit to the People's Republic of China was the president of France, and the first Western country that the head of the People's Republic of China paid a visit to was also France, he said.

Independence is a strong factor behind every highlight of China-France exchanges, which deserves to be cherished, inherited and carried forward, Xi said.

The specialty lies in mutual understanding. As important representatives of Eastern and Western civilizations, China and France have always admired and attracted each other, Xi said.

Confucius' thoughts deeply influenced French thinkers Voltaire and others, and inspired the French Enlightenment, while during what is known as the Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement around the 1920s, large numbers of Chinese young people traveled to France for educational sojourns in search of a way out for China through revolution, construction and reform, he said.

This year marks the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism. Xi said he hopes that the two countries will take this opportunity to seek more wisdom and absorb more nutrition from each other's cultures.

The specialty also lies in responsibility. History has proved many times that China and France, working together, can benefit the world, Xi said.

The world today is confronted with complex and intertwined challenges, with the protracted crisis in Ukraine and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, sluggish world economic recovery, and increasingly daunting global challenges such as climate change, he said.

As permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and France have to shoulder greater responsibilities, said Xi, adding that he and President Macron had agreed to stay true to the original aspiration of establishing diplomatic relations, deepen high-level mutual trust and cooperation, strengthen communication and coordination on major international issues, and work together to bring hope to the confused world and explore the direction of human progress.

Xi is on a state visit to France at the invitation of Macron. He will also pay state visits to Serbia and Hungary.

Xi attends welcome banquet held by Macron

The bustling Xiushui Business Street (Silk Street) in Beijing is experiencing a significant surge in visits paid by international tourists, thanks to the country's implementation of visa-free policy.

The business street, known for its array of shops selling a wide range of souvenirs and gifts and a vibrant shopping atmosphere, is among the top destinations for visitors from abroad.

Since earlier this year, China has implemented a visa-free policy that exempts many European ordinary passport holders from the time-consuming and costly obligation, encouraging travelers from nearly a dozen European countries to explore this Asian country. It allows ordinary passport holders of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg, to enter and stay in China visa-free for up to 15 days for business, tourism, transit, as well as visiting relatives and friends .

Against such a backdrop, the business street, with a spike in international tourist arrivals, has offered popular options with distinctive Beijing features to foreign visitors.

"From January to April this year, the combined number of overseas tourists we received was expected to increase by nearly 20 times from the previous year. We've selected a batch of souvenirs that can represent Beijing for our customers, so as to make each and every of them happy," said Dong Qing, an employee of the business street.

Ibeku hailing from Nigeria was on a business trip to Beijing. She came to the business street to tailor a suit of Nigerian traditional costume with Chinese silk.

"First of all, I love fashion. So if we have Chinese silk [and] Nigerian style [together], that's like a mix of cultures, and that's what we are all hoping to get this day," she said.

Taking into account the tight schedule of foreign customers, many merchants reduce the time it takes to craft bespoke garments from the traditional four to five days down to an impressive 18 hours.

Furthermore, they also provide global mailing services for international customers who express concern about limited luggage space or tight travel schedules.

According to data released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the capital city received 469,000 inbound tourist arrivals in the first quarter of this year, up by 3.1 times year on year, and the foreign exchange income of tourism is 650 million U.S. dollars, a year-on-year growth of 225.8 percent.

Xiushui Business Street thrives with influx of foreign tourists under visa-free policy