Achi news desk-
Chinese President Xi Jinping leaves for Paris on Sunday for a rare visit, with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron set to press him to narrow the trade imbalance and try to persuade him to use his influence with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Neither goal will be easily realized during Xi’s two-day stay in France, which he arrives at a time of growing trade tensions between Europe and China.
France supports an EU investigation into Chinese electric vehicle exports, and in January Beijing opened an investigation into imports of brandy – which is mainly produced in France – a move seen as retaliation against a growing array of inspections in the European Union.
“We must continue to push the Chinese authorities to give us more guarantees on trade issues,” Eliza’s adviser said ahead of Xi’s visit, his first trip to Europe in five years.
Xi was due to arrive around 4:00 pm (1400 GMT). His official meetings will include joint talks with Macron and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Divisions within the 27 members of the European Union – and especially between France and Germany – undermine their ability to influence China. German Chancellor Olaf Schulz will not join Macron and Xi in Paris because of prior commitments, sources said.
“Leverage flies out the window if European leaders send different messages to Xi,” said Noah Barkin, a senior consultant at Rhodium Group who follows EU-China relations.
Read more: Russia puts Zelensky from Ukraine on the wanted list
France will also try to make progress in opening the Chinese market to its agricultural exports and resolve issues surrounding the French cosmetics industry’s concerns about intellectual property rights, officials said.
Ukraine speaks
France has been keen to push China to pressure Moscow to end operations in Ukraine, with little progress so far, apart from Xi’s decision to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time shortly after Macron’s visit to Beijing last year.
“With China being one of Russia’s main partners, our goal is to use the leverage it has over Moscow to change Russia’s calculations and help contribute to the resolution of the conflict,” said the same Eliza adviser.
A French diplomatic source said: “If the Chinese want to deepen the relationship with their European partners, it is really important that they hear our point of view and start taking it seriously.”
On Tuesday, Macron will take Xi to the Pyrenees, mountains he is particularly fond of as the birthplace of his maternal grandmother.
The gesture was meant to echo Xi’s decision to take Macron to share a tea ceremony at Xi’s father’s former residence in the city of Guangzhou.
“Macron is always in a magical state, he tries to infect foreign leaders by establishing a personal relationship with them,” Barkin said.
“But I hope he is under no illusions that bringing Xi to a place that was important to him from his childhood will bring Xi to tears and lead to compromises from Beijing.”
Xi will leave France on Tuesday afternoon to travel to Russia-friendly Serbia and Hungary.
