Chinese President Xi Jinping held a welcoming ceremony in honor of his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who has been on his fourth state visit to China since Wednesday, in the north wing of the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square.
According to images broadcast by the media, the two leaders greeted and introduced their respective delegations and reviewed the guard of honour. Both are accompanied by their respective first ladies, Peng Liyuan and Brigitte Macron.
China has the “decisive capacity” to influence the ceasefire in Ukraine, President Macron said in a meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping. The head of the Elysée also said that France and China must overcome their “differences”, noting that “sometimes there are divergences, but it is our responsibility to overcome them for the common good.”
Xi Jinping has called for “more stable ties” between China and France, hoping to be able to work in such a way as to “exclude any interference” to achieve a “wide-ranging and more stable strategic partnership”. In the bilateral meeting, Xi also stressed the need to defend “multilateralism” as the basis of international relations.
China “supports all efforts in favor of peace” in Ukraine, said President Xi Jinping, resorting to the formula most used so far by Beijing regarding Moscow’s aggression against Kiev. Xi also underlined the importance of the talks held, useful for “strengthening strategic coordination” with Paris and cooperation in sectors such as aerospace and nuclear energy, as well as underlining the scenario of greater mandarin investments in France.
Macron renewed his appeal to Xi to support Europe’s position on Ukraine and warned against the risks linked to the “disintegration of the world order” and the instability of global supply chains, of which rare earths are a key node, calling for more Chinese investment in France to help create more balanced trade relations. Furthermore, the two countries have identified “a path towards convergence” on some issues”, added Macron: there will also be disagreements, “but we have the responsibility to overcome them”, in a context of growing trade tensions between China and Europe.
“We are facing the risk of disintegration of the international order that has brought peace to the world for decades. In this context, the dialogue between China and France is more essential than ever – observed the head of the Elysée -. We have many possibilities for convergence”. Macron’s visit to China is his fourth since he became president in 2017 and comes as France prepares to take over the G7 presidency in 2026, during which global economic imbalances will be high on his agenda. On this point, Macron invited Xi to work together with the G7 on rules-based economic governance. Tensions between Beijing and its European partners have risen due to China’s growing trade and investment imbalances and its export-led growth. Controls on shipments of rare earths, the minerals at the basis of production in sectors ranging from cars to defense, by China, which dominates global production, have increased friction exponentially. The EU, meanwhile, is preparing to tighten its trade rules.