On January 25, 2013, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi held a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius.

Both sides made positive comments on the achievements of the Sino-French relations in recent years, agreeing that this year is an important one in the development process of bilateral relations. The two sides will make joint efforts to strengthen high-level exchanges, deepen pragmatic cooperation and push bilateral relations to a new level. The two sides also exchanged views on the situation in Mali.