Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to France has successive and far-reaching significance for the development of bilateral relations, which will further catalyze all-round pragmatic cooperation and make greater contributions to world peace and prosperity, said French officials on Tuesday.
At the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, Xi visited the European country from Sunday to Tuesday. It coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and is extremely instrumental for building on the past achievements and opening up new prospects for bilateral relations.
Luc Geismar, a member of French parliament, highlighted the areas of sports and cultural exchanges in bilateral relations.
"I think the friendship between our two peoples [can be strengthened] through cultural exchanges and sports," he said.
Catherine Ruggeri, inspector general of Cultural Affairs of the French Ministry of Culture, said she expects deepening cooperation between the two countries under the framework of the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism.
"Especially after a long period of COVID-19 pandemic, we miss China, and China also misses France. [We should deepen cooperation] in the fields of culture, exchanges of people, artists and institutions, and the important cultural tourism at the time of the 60th anniversary [of diplomatic ties]. The French side is very honored to see Chinese President Xi Jinping visit us and hold talks with our President Macron," said Ruggeri.
Following the visit to France, Xi proceeded to Serbia on Tuesday on the second leg of his three-nation Europe tour.
He will also pay a state visit to Hungary.
Xi's state visit to France bears far-reaching significance: French officials
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a hard landing in Iran's northwestern province of East Azerbaijan on Sunday, state-run IRIB TV reported.
Raisi’s helicopter was part of a convoy of three helicopters which was on its way from Khoda Afarin County, where Raisi had attended the inauguration ceremony of a storage dam along with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, to the provincial capital Tabriz where Raisi was scheduled to attend the inauguration of a petrochemical complex, according to the report.
"On May 19 local time, the helicopter carrying Iranian President Raisi made a hard landing in East Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran. According to our investigation in Iran, the incident took place near the Varzaghan area of East Azerbaijan. From the live broadcast on Iranian national television, we can see that the entire area of the accident site is in a state of severe foggy weather, which caused great trouble to the search and rescue work. In addition to Iranian President Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan Province, and other officials and entourage were also on the helicopter," said Li Jiannan, a CCTV reporter in Iran.
Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi attributed the helicopter's rough landing to the unfavorable weather conditions, which he said also impacted search and rescue work.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pirhossein Kolivand told IRIB TV that 40 rapid reaction teams had rushed to the scene and were monitoring the region while noting that there were difficulties in reaching the scene by land or by air due to the mountainous terrain and the bad weather conditions.
Kolivand, however, said drones were being used to search the region.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri has ordered the army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the police to make all-out efforts to search for and rescue the president and his accompanying team, said the Iran Newspaper.
Speaking to IRIB TV, Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said medical teams had been stationed near the possible crash site.
Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said in a post on social media platform X that Vice President Mohsen Mansouri and several cabinet members were on their way to Tabriz after a meeting in Tehran.
Following the incident, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei expressed his hope that President Raisi and accompanying officials would be able to return home safely, saying that everyone should pray for them. Iranian people do not need to worry, and the work of the country and the government will not be affected, he said.
Following reports of the incident, leaders of neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan and Iraq, expressed concern over the developments and said they were ready to assist in search and rescue efforts.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the same day, saying that Türkiye is following the incident and hopes that Iranian President Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian and other Iranian officials are safe and healthy. Türkiye has taken action to provide support for the search and rescue operation, the statement said.
Iranian president's helicopter makes hard landing in NW province
