(Paris) Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected on a state visit to France on May 6 and 7 to discuss international crises, including the war in Ukraine, with Emmanuel Macron, but also to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. .
This is the start of his first European tour since the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw the Asian giant cut off many interactions with the rest of the world for a long time.
Xi Jinping is due to land in Paris on the evening of Sunday May 5, before making stops in Serbia and then Hungary, where he is expected from May 8 to 10, the Chinese authorities also confirmed on Monday.
This visit to France comes after that of the French president in Beijing and Canton in April 2023, recalled the Élysée in a press release.
“The discussions will focus on international crises, first and foremost the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, trade issues, scientific, cultural and sporting cooperation as well as our common actions in the face of global issues, in particular climate emergency, the protection of biodiversity and the financial situation of the most vulnerable countries,” added the French presidency.
Paris evokes a very political visit without major contracts to expect, even if Emmanuel Macron hopes to attract new Chinese investments, particularly in electric batteries.
Lin Jian, spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy, said for his part that the two leaders will try to “make new contributions to world peace, stability, development and progress”.
A year ago in China, Emmanuel Macron called on Xi Jinping to “bring Russia to reason” with regard to Ukraine “and everyone to the negotiating table”.
Shortly after, the Chinese president called his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time since the start of the conflict in February 2022. But the diplomatic progress expected by Paris on the Russo-Ukrainian front stopped there.
A year later, the French analysis has not changed.
“We must continue to engage China which, objectively, is the international actor which has the most important levers to change Moscow’s calculation”, of which it remains the main ally, says a French diplomatic source, while recognizing that we should not expect a major turning point overnight.
Chinese authorities officially say they are neutral and call for a peace solution, but have never condemned the Russian invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit China in May.
“France, through this visit, demonstrates that it is one of the very rare countries in the world to be able to maintain channels of discussion at all levels with the second largest economic power in the world, with China, in a context where it there is a tense relationship with the United States and the United Kingdom,” says a French diplomatic source.
State dinner
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz already asked President Xi in mid-April in Beijing to put pressure on Moscow to stop its “insane campaign” in Ukraine, while affirming German-Chinese support for a peace conference planned for June in Switzerland.
The Chinese number one also received last week the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, with whom he called on the United States to “be partners, not rivals”. The American Secretary of State, for his part, said he had expressed his concerns to China regarding the support provided to Russia, affirming that the invasion of Ukraine would be more “difficult” without the support of Beijing.
The Chinese president and his wife Peng Liyuan will be received on May 6 by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron in Paris, where a state dinner is planned at the Élysée. On May 7, the two couples will travel to the Hautes-Pyrénées where the French head of state wants to share a more intimate moment with his counterpart.
He actually went there a lot in his childhood to visit his maternal grandmother, Germaine Noguès, who died in 2013 and who lived in Bagnères-de-Bigorre (southwest).
Last year, Xi Jinping received his guest in Guangzhou for a tea ceremony at the governor’s residence of Guangdong province, where his father, Xi Zhongxun, lived when he held that post from 1978 to 1981.
reference: www.lapresse.ca