As China and France marked the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two established, the man who was pivotal in making them happen was not forgotten.

On Saturday China's Ambassador to France Lu Shaye and two bus-loads of guests paid tribute to General Charles de Gaulle at Colombeyles-Deux-Eglises, 250 kilometers east of Paris, where he is buried.

On Jan 27, 1964, China and France announced in a joint communique that they had established diplomatic ties, making France the first major Western country to do so at the height of the Cold War.

At a news conference four days later de Gaulle said: "The French Republic has decided to place its relations with the People's Republic of China on a normal, in other words diplomatic, level."

Lu was greeted by several local leaders and politicians including Pascal Babouot, mayor of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, and Nicolas Lacroix, president of the Haute-Marne Department Council and president of the Charles de Gaulle Memorial.

He laid a wreath in the cemetery and another one at the giant Cross of Lorraine, which was used as a symbol of the Free France that de Gaulle led during World War II.

"Sixty years ago Chairman Mao Zedong and General de Gaulle, with their excellent strategic vision, broke the ice of the Cold War and crossed the divide between different blocs to make a historic decision to establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level," Lu said at the Anne de Gaulle Amphitheater of the Charles de Gaulle Memorial.

Using the Chinese idiom referring to one not forgetting where water comes from when one drinks it, Lu said the event at the Charles de Gaulle Memorial on the exact day 60 years later was of "special significance".

"Gaullism has a broad and profound connotation, but the most profound core is of independence," he said, adding that this is a value that China and France have in common.

Lacroix said, "The common history of our nations finds a natural echo here in Colombey."

A documentary titled De Gaulle, A Visionary Giant Beyond Time produced by CGTN of China was played in the amphitheater.

Among those at the event was Nathalie de Gaulle, great-granddaughter of the general.

She echoed Lu's view, saying that the legacy of her great-grandfather is of independence and freedom.

"He was a quite pragmatic man. He was a visionary person."

Thanks to Charles de Gaulle's building of a relationship between the two countries 60 years ago, French and Chinese live with his legacy today, she said.

"We see today's delegation; it's a lively friendship between our two nations and we have General de Gaulle to be thanked for that."

Nathalie de Gaulle, who visited China several months ago, said her great-grandfather, who died aged 79 in 1970, would be "immensely impressed" if he could visit China today. "I think he would be amazed by the revolution of the country and by the depth of your people," she told China Daily.

She was impressed by the architecture of Chinese cities and said there is nothing to be envied in European cities. Chinese have a vision for the future but also, in a country with thousands of years of history, remember their past, she said.

"That is the greatness of China today: remember your past and have a clear vision for your future."