On October 18, China and France jointly issued a set of commemorative stamps entitled The 60th Anniversary of China-France Diplomatic Relations. This set consists of two stamps, the designs of which are named The Mount Taishan and The Mont-Saint-Michel.

The design of the first stamp features Mount Taishan. Mount Taishan is China’s first scenic spot listed by UNESCO as a world cultural and natural heritage. As an important part of Chinese culture, Mount Taishan, like the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, has great symbolic significance and rich and profound cultural connotation. The design of the second stamp depicts the Mont-Saint-Michel. The Mont-Saint-Michel is a famous historic site and holy place of Christian civilization in France, and was listed as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO in 1979. Tai’an, a city where Mount Taishan is located, and Mont-Saint-Michel became sister cities in 1997. The two cities have conducted in-depth exchanges in tourism development and protection, cultural publicity and other fields, with their friendly relations continuously progressing.

The stamps are printed with UV offset printing ink, which presents richer color effect. The clever line design of the stamps creates a carving-like visual effect. The light golden ink used on the border ornament complements the designs, giving the overall picture a full yet elegant sense of sight.

This set of stamps is designed by Wang Yuliang and Sandrine Chimbaud (France), and printed by Beijing Stamp Printing House Company Limited with offset printing technology. The face value of the whole set is 2.4 yuan, and the planned circulation is 6 million sets.

On January 27, 1964, China and France established ambassadorial-level diplomatic relations. The year 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Over the past 60 years, China and France have been committed to achieving common development through mutually beneficial cooperation, promoting mutual learning between civilizations through equal exchanges, and working together to tackle global challenges through multilateral coordination. The relationship between the two countries has created many “firsts” and achieved fruitful results, which not only benefits the peoples of both countries, but also plays an important role in maintaining world peace and stability and promoting a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations.