On the evening of June 29 local time, at the invitation of Prime Minister Manuel Valls of the Republic of France, Premier Li Keqiang arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport by special plane, starting his official visit to France. Mme. Cheng Hong, wife of Premier Li Keqiang, arrived by the same plane.

Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Ségolène Royal and other senior government officials of France went to the airport to greet them. Guards of courtesy lined up on both sides of the red carpet to salute to Premier Li Keqiang and his wife. H.E. Zhai Jun, Chinese Ambassador to France, also greeted them at the airport.

Li Keqiang expressed that France is the first major Western country to establish ambassadorial-level diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Last year both sides solemnized the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations. During this visit, I look forward to conducting in-depth discussion with French leaders on how to deepen the political mutual trust and traditional friendship between China and France, speed up the transformation and upgrading of bilateral practical cooperation as well as trilateral practical cooperation along with a third party, as well as improve the level of people-to-people and cultural, scientific and technological cooperation on a new threshold. Also, I hope to exchange views on international and regional topics of common interest with French leaders in order to push the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries to a new height.

During this visit, Li Keqiang will meet with President François Hollande of France, and hold talks with Prime Minister Manuel Valls and jointly meet the press, and meet with President of the Senate and President of the National Assembly respectively. Apart from Paris, Li Keqiang will pay a visit to Marseilles, and attend the China-France Business Summit in Toulouse and deliver a speech.

During his stay in Paris, Li Keqiang will also pay a visit to the headquarters of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and deliver a speech at invitation.

Li Keqiang arrived in Paris after wrapping up his attendance of the 17th China-EU Leaders’ Meeting. Upon leaving from Brussels, senior officials of the EU and the Belgian government, H.E. Yang Yanyi, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, and H.E. Qu Xing, Chinese Ambassador to Belgium, saw him off at the airport.