French Foreign Affair Minister Laurent Fabius on Monday expressed the desire to deepen Sino-French relations over a telephone dialogue with China’s newly-elected Foreign Affair Minister Wang Yi.

Fabius congratulated his Chinese counterpart on his appointment and stressed the importance that France attaches to the development of Sino-French relations as the two countries will celebrate the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relationship next year.

The two ministers agreed on deepening Sino-French partnership in the areas of civil nuclear power and aviation. The French minister also stressed the need to rebalance and strengthen trade between France and China.

Meanwhile, the two ministers also expressed their wish to further develop the coordination between China and France on major international issues and the French minister thanked China for its support on the resolution of the crisis in Mali.