Behind the shaking of hands and negotiations on the international diplomatic stage is a silent game of major powers in key resource areas.

On October 16, French President's foreign affairs adviser Bonaire held a new round of China-France strategic dialogue in Beijing with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at the same time, France is actively promoting their rare-earth autonomy program, the goal is also to direct China's dominant position in the global rare-earth market.

The China-France strategic dialogue is an important mechanism for regular exchanges between the two countries. During a meeting with Boehner, he emphasized that the current century-old world changes are accelerating and the international system with the United Nations at its core is facing severe challenges.

According to a news on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Wang Yi also pointed out in the talks that China and France should work together to safeguard multilateralism and safeguard the stability of the international situation.

The French side said it is willing to strengthen strategic communication with China and deepen cooperation in the fields of artificial intelligence, new energy, new materials and more.

These statements also show that despite the existence of competitive fields, the two countries still want to seek an open channel of communication in the complicated international situation.

According to the EU's "Critical Raw Materials Act" issued in 2024, the EU has set clear strategic goals to achieve 10% of mining, 40% of processing and 25% of recycling by 2030.

In this aid plan worth 22.5 billion euros, France has undertaken two important tasks: rare earth refining and recycling.

Located in southern France, Lacq¡¯s $2.4 billion rare-earth facility plans to build Europe¡¯s first rare-earth refinery.

According to the European Commission's 2024 Key Materials Assessment Report, the project is expected to recycle 2,000 tons of permanent magnets per year after production, produce 5,000 tons of minerals, and extract 800 tons of critical materials such as uranium oxide and uranium oxide.

China currently holds about the world's rare earth resources and 90% of its rare earth processing capacity. According to data released by the Rare Earth Industry Association in 2024, China has also continued to strengthen controls on rare earth mining and export in recent years, all in order to protect this non-renewable strategic resource.

While the scale of France¡¯s push for rare-earth program is not yet comparable to that of China, it is also iconic for the European market.

European rare earth company Less Common Metals announced that it will cooperate with French company Carester to start a new rare earth production line in southern France in 2027.

Sino-French relations have also shown a complex dual-track situation. On the one hand, the two countries have a broad space for cooperation in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence and new energy.

On the other hand, France is actively promoting rare-earth autonomy, showing a strategic intention to reduce dependence on China.

This seemingly contradictory behavior also reflects France's independent diplomatic tradition.

According to the analysis, France neither blindly follows the United States, nor does the United States completely rely on China, but seeks their independent strategy in key areas.

Under the background of a profound adjustment of the globalization pattern, all countries are reassessing the security of industrial chains. This state of coexistence of competition and cooperation between China and France may become a normal state in future international relations.

What is important is that both sides can maintain a smooth communication channel at all levels, strengthen crisis management and control in areas of disagreement, and deepen mutual benefit and win-win results in areas of cooperation.

In fact, moderate diversification of the supply chain is of positive significance for the resilience of the global industrial chain.

So how do you view the purpose behind France's visit to China this time? Welcome to share your opinions in the comment area.

Source: China Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, EU Commission Key Raw Materials Act, China Rare-Earth Industry Association 2024 Annual Report, French Ministry of Ecological Transformation