Coupled with Macron's visit, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus signed an agreement with China Aviation Supplies Holding Co on Thursday and landed orders for 160 new aircraft, including 150 A320-family aircraft and 10 A350-900 widebody aircraft.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury also signed an agreement with Tianjin Free Trade Zone Investment Co and Aviation Industry Corp of China to expand its A320-family final assembly capacity with a second line at its Tianjin site.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, on her first visit to China since taking office in 2019, joined Xi and Macron at a trilateral meeting later on Thursday, and vowed to increase constructive dialogue to promote the consistent and stable development of China-EU ties.

During their talks, Xi and Macron agreed that China and France, as permanent members of the UN Security Council and major countries with a tradition of independence, should keep to the overall direction of a comprehensive strategic partnership that is stable, mutually beneficial, enterprising and dynamic, inject new vitality into China-Europe relations, and make new contributions to international cooperation against global challenges.