AGI – Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected on a state visit to France on May 6 and 7 to discuss international crises with Emmanuel Macron, including the war in Ukraine, but also to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. This is his first European tour after the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw the Asian giant interrupt many diplomatic relations with the rest of the world for a long time. Xi Jinping will land in Paris on the evening of Sunday 5 May, before stopping in Serbia and then Hungary, where he will be expected from 8 to 10 May, Chinese authorities have confirmed.
This visit to France follows that of the French president to Beijing and Canton in April 2023, the Elysée recalled in a press release. “The discussions will focus on international crises, primarily the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, trade issues, scientific, cultural and sports cooperation, as well as our joint actions in the face of global issues, in particular the climate emergency, the protection of biodiversity and the financial situation of the most vulnerable countries”, added the French presidency.
According to Paris, it will still be a very political visit, without large contracts, even if Emmanuel Macron hopes to attract new Chinese investments, particularly in the electric battery sector. Lin Jian, spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy, said for his part that the two leaders will try to “make new contributions to peace, stability, development and progress in the world”. A year ago in China, Emmanuel Macron called on Xi Jinping to “bring Russia to reason” regarding Ukraine “and all those who sit at the negotiating table.”
Shortly thereafter, the Chinese president called his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenski for the first time since the conflict began in February 2022. But the diplomatic progress expected from Paris on the Russian-Ukrainian front stopped there. A year later, the scenario presented by France has not changed. “We must continue to engage with China which, objectively, is the international actor that has the most important levers to change Moscow’s strategies”, of which it remains the main ally, said a French diplomatic source, while recognizing that it is not necessary however expect a major turning point any day now.
The Chinese authorities officially declare themselves neutral and call for a peace solution, but have never condemned the Russian invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin will 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 world economic power, with China, in a context in which there is no “Relations with The United States and the United Kingdom are tense”, a French diplomatic source further suggests.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had already asked President Xi in mid-April in Beijing to put pressure on Moscow to stop its “senseless campaign” in Ukraine, while affirming German-Chinese support for a peace conference scheduled for June in Swiss. The Chinese number one also received the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken last week, with whom he invited the United States to “be partners, not rivals”.
The US Secretary of State, for his part, said he had expressed his concerns to China about its support for Russia, saying that the invasion of Ukraine would be more “difficult” without Beijing’s support. 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 Elysée. On May 7, the two couples will travel to the Hautes Pyrenees where the French head of state wants to share a more intimate moment with his counterpart.
In fact he often went there as a child to visit his maternal grandmother, Germaine Nogue’s, who died in 2013, who lived in Bagne’res-de-Bigorre (south-west). Last year, Xi Jinping received his guest in Guangzhou for a tea ceremony at the residence of the governor of Guangdong province, where his father, Xi Zhongxun, lived when he held that office from 1978 to 1981.
