(Paris) Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected in France on May 6 and 7 to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations during a state visit during which Emmanuel Macron will again ask him to contribute to a “resolution” of the conflict in Ukraine.
This will be 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.
“The discussions will focus on international crises, first and foremost the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, trade issues”, “as well as our common actions in the face of global issues, in particular the climate emergency, protection of biodiversity and the financial situation of the most vulnerable countries,” the Élysée declared on Monday.
Paris evokes a very political visit, even if new Chinese investments in France are being negotiated, particularly in electric batteries. And French officials also intend to raise commercial issues, and defend “the interests” of the country “during and at the end” of the anti-dumping investigation into cognac-type alcohol launched by the Chinese authorities.
“Levers” on Moscow
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”.
As a year ago in China, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will be involved in a trilateral exchange on Monday in Paris.
Last year, Emmanuel Macron called on Xi Jinping to “bring Russia to reason” with regard to Ukraine. 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 Russian-Ukrainian front stopped there.
A year later, the French analysis has not changed.
“China being one of Russia’s main partners”, particularly in diplomatic and commercial matters, the head of state intends to “encourage it to use the levers it has over Moscow in order to change Russia’s calculations and to be able to contribute to a resolution of this conflict,” explained the Élysée. He will also “raise concerns” about “the activity of certain Chinese companies which could directly contribute significantly to the Russian war effort”, added an adviser.
Chinese authorities officially say they are neutral and call for a peace solution, but have never condemned the Russian invasion. A sign of the strength of Beijing-Moscow relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin is due 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 and American Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently took turns in Beijing to also ask President Xi to put pressure on Moscow.
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 in the presence of several Chinese artists.
On May 7, the two couples will travel to the Hautes-Pyrénées, to the Col du Tourmalet, the legendary climb of the Tour de France, 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.
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