Beijing (EFE).- The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, begins today a three-day visit to China considered by the Asian giant media as “an important engine to restart relations” between the two countries after three years of pandemic.
“It is believed that President Macron’s visit will become an important engine for restarting China-France relations in the post-pandemic era and will create a new pattern for the development of China-France relations,” he said in an interview. The Chinese ambassador in Paris, Lu Shaye, told a French media outlet in a statement reported by the official Global Times newspaper.
Upon his arrival this Wednesday, accompanied by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the French leader will address the French community residing in the Asian country through a speech, just before heading to the opening of a festival Sino-French culture.
After the first day, the French president will meet on Thursday with the president of China and general secretary of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, before meeting again with the Chinese leader and Von der Leyen in a trilateral meeting.
During these meetings, important issues such as the war in Ukraine and China’s possible military support for Russia will be discussed, in addition to delving into the European objective of “finding a path that leads to the end of the war in the medium term.”
Macron will also meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and National People’s Congress (Legislative) Speaker Zhao Leji on Thursday to complete talks on issues related to climate change, food safety and environmental issues.
On Friday, now without Von der Leyen, he will travel to the city of Canton, belonging to the southern province of the same name, where he will have a meeting with Chinese students from Sun Yat-Sen University and Chinese investors, in addition to having dinner with Xi again.
The local media highlight that this will be the first time that a French president visits the city and affirm that a large part of the delegation that the president accompanies has economic interests in the region, such as Airbus, EDF, Alstom or Veolia, so in the trip will seek to close commercial agreements.
They also highlight that traveling to cities other than Beijing is a custom for Macron, having visited Xian and Shanghai in his previous stays in the Asian giant.
This trip by Macron is the second to Beijing by a European leader, after the one closed last Friday by the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, after Xi’s visit to Moscow last week, in which the Chinese leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin showed the strength of their relationship.
