Xi Jinping arrived in Paris on Sunday. The Chinese president returned to Europe for the first time since 2019

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Paris on Sunday, where his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, plans to plead for trade “reciprocity” and the search for a solution to the war in Ukraine, to a Chinese leader who continues to show support for Russia, reports France Presse, according to Agerpres.

Xi Jinping returned to Europe for the first time since 2019

Returning to Europe for the first time since 2019, the number one of the Asian superpower organized his tour to reflect a diplomatic balance: after the state visit to France, which has been asking him for a year to use his influence to ” brings Russia to reality”, he will visit Serbia and Hungary, two countries that have remained close to Moscow.

On Monday, Xi Jinping, who came to celebrate 60 years of French-Chinese diplomatic relations, will have a series of meetings with Emmanuel Macron, who previously had talks with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

In the morning, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, will join the Franco-Chinese duo at the Elysee Palace for a session aimed at addressing trade issues.

And these are many, writes France Presse. Threatened to be caught in the middle between the American and Chinese economies, which benefit from massive aid from public authorities, the European Union has in recent months intensified its investigations into the subsidies granted by the Chinese state in several industrial sectors, especially in the field of electric vehicles, accused of false competition.

In an interview with La Tribune on Sunday, Emmanuel Macron admitted that Europeans “are not unanimous” on the strategy to adopt because, he said, “some actors still see China essentially as a market”, in while it “exports massively to Europe”.

He advocates for “better protection of our national security”, “being much more realistic in defending our interests” and “achieving reciprocity”.

In Beijing, these measures, which are considered “protectionist”, are not well received. Chinese authorities have launched their own anti-subsidy investigation, mainly targeting French cognac, against which the French president intends to speak out.

Although no major contract has been announced at this time, investment discussions have been ongoing until the end. A Franco-Chinese economic forum is also scheduled for Monday at the Theater Marigny.

On Monday afternoon, after a lavish reception at the Invalides and before a banquet at the Elysee Palace, Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping will meet again tete-a-tete for the most political part of the visit, then address the media .

What will Macron ask the Chinese?

The French leader plans to ask the Chinese to uphold the “Olympic truce” for “all” conflicts at this summer’s Paris Games.

At the very least, Paris wants to make sure that Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main ally, does not clearly support its war effort against Kiev. Or even encourage him to use the leverage he has over Moscow to contribute to a resolution of this conflict, according to the Elysee.

Emmanuel Macron delivered the same message a year ago during his own state visit to China, with modest results.

In the opinion of Marc Julienne, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations, “this approach reveals a lack of understanding of Beijing’s interests and strategy”, which wants “to keep its distance from the conflict” and does not intend “to get more involved, nor in the direction of the Europeans, nor in terms of the military support given to Russia”.

However, the French president will try to deepen the subject on Tuesday, when the two statesmen and their wives will make a more personal trip to the Pyrenees. The purpose of this lunch in the Tourmalet pass, where he spent his holidays with his grandmother as a child, is of a diplomatic nature: to break away from the imposed protocol to establish a more direct dialogue, especially regarding Ukraine.

On the thorny issue of human rights, Macron said he preferred to talk about “disagreements” rather “behind closed doors”. Paris did not even want to present the Taiwan file as a priority, which is at the center of strong tensions between the US and China.

Several hundred Tibetan activists gathered in Place de la Republique in Paris on Sunday to denounce China as a “predator” and a “colonial regime”. ‘

“No to Chinese totalitarianism,” read one banner.

From Wednesday to Friday, Xi Jinping will travel to Serbia and Hungary.

Publisher: BC

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