France and China will step up cooperation on bilateral issues including aviation, agriculture, food and energy while continuing their joint effort to address global crises around climate change and biodiversity loss, China's foreign ministry said in a statement following a phone call between Wang Yi and France's Emmanuel Bonne.

Chinese state councilor and foreign minister Wang hailed France's efforts to mediate in the conflict in Ukraine and stressed China's commitment to peace and stable development.

In the meeting with Bonne, who is a top advisor to President Emmanuel Macron, Wang also called on France to play a role in developing European Union relations with Beijing, which have cooled over claims of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and other issues.

Since the reelection of Macron, relations with China have been "strong", the foreign ministry statement said.

The Chinese statement also cited Bonne as offering an assurance that NATO will stick to its charter commitment of focusing only on the European continent despite signs the organization has been paying closer heed to the Asia Pacific region in recent years.