Zou Lei, Chairman of China Datang, and Zhang Chuanjiang, Director of the Board and President of China Datang, held talks with Luc Rémont, Chairman and CEO of Electricité de France (EDF), at China Datang's headquarters on Thursday in Beijing during Rémont's visit to China.

Other senior executives from China Datang and EDF, including Qu Bo, Vice President of China Datang, Erkki Maillard, EDF’s Senior Vice President of Government and International Affairs, and Fabrice Fourcade, Vice President of EDF and Chairman of EDF China, also attended the meeting.

The two sides had in-depth exchange of views on topics including deepening energy cooperation and opportunities and challenges facing energy transition.

Senior executives of China Datang hold talks with their counterparts from Electricité de France at the headquarters of China Datang in Beijing, May 30, 2024.

Zou extended a warm welcome to Rémont and congratulated EDF on its successful 40-year operations in China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's successful visit to France has enhanced the strategic mutual trust between the two countries and provided more opportunities for cooperation between Chinese and French enterprises, Zou said.

As the main power supplier for China, especially for Beijing, China Datang has been actively promoting energy structure transformation, accelerating investment in and development of new energy, as well as nuclear power cooperation and development, making every effort to the construction of new power and energy systems, he noted.

Pointing out that EDF, as a world-class energy enterprise, has played an active role in deepening and promoting China-French energy cooperation over the past 40 years, Zou said China Datang stands ready to carry out extensive and fruitful cooperation with EDF, on the basis of existing cooperation, on such fields as operations in the Chinese market and third-party markets, as well as sci-tech innovation.

Zou said China Datang hopes to work together with EDF to set a new model of cooperation between Chinese and French enterprises and jointly contribute to promoting the global energy transition and addressing climate change.

Rémont expressed gratitude to China Datang for its support for EDF. He said that Xi's visit to France has led to more consensus between the two countries and brought more opportunities for deepening cooperation between Chinese and French enterprises.

EDF has always paid close attention to the Chinese market and is willing to take its 40th anniversary of operating in China as an opportunity to further strengthen strategic cooperation with China Datang, Rémont said.

He explained that EDF looks forward to conducting in-depth discussions and cooperation with China Datang on nuclear power, offshore wind power, hydrogen energy, third-party markets, and other areas, so as to achieve higher-level win-win cooperation between the two companies and contribute to the China-France friendship.

Other executives from the relevant departments of China Datang and EDF also attended the meeting.