Timeline

China Daily Europe | Updated: 2014-01-24 08:52

Share - WeChat

October 1963

Edgar Darfur, the special envoy of the French president Charles de Gaulle, visits China to establish diplomatic ties. Chinese premier Zhou Enlai meets Darfur in Beijing.

Jan 27, 1964

China and France issue a joint communique, announcing the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

June 6, 1964

The first Chinese ambassador to France, Huang Zhen, meets French president Charles de Gaulle (center) and foreign minister Maurice Couve de Murville to present his credentials at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

September 1973

Georges Pompidou becomes the first French president and the first head of state of a European country to pay an official visit to China.

May 1975

French prime minister Jacques Chirac welcomes Deng Xiaoping in Paris on May 12. It was the first visit by a Chinese leader to France since 1964.

May 1983

French president Francis Mitterrand pays an official visit to China. The two countries sign a memorandum of understanding on nuclear energy coopeartion.

September 1994

Chinese president Jiang Zemin visits France.

May 1997

During a state visit to China, French president Jacques Chirac and Chinese president Jiang Zemin sign a joint statement announcing a comprehensive partnership between the two countries. Chirac (center) and Jiang toast after the signing of the $1.5-billion Airbus order in Beijing on May 15.

January 2004

Chinese president Hu Jintao pays a state visit to France, during which the two heads of state sign a joint statement, lifting the China-France partnership to an all-round strategic partnership.

November 2007

French president Nicolas Sarkozy pays a state visit to China during which the two heads of state reach common understanding on further developing the China-France strategic partnership.

April 2013

During French President Francois Hollande's visit to China, the two countries decide to explore new areas of cooperation and sign 18 agreements and business deals.