On his fourth visit to China since taking office, Emmanuel Macron is urging Beijing to support peace efforts in Ukraine and to address Europe’s long-running trade imbalance.
The French president has appealed to China’s leader Xi Jinping to help end the conflict and improve Europe’s trade balance as the two met in Beijing’s Great Hall on Thursday.
For Macron, the three-day trip offers a chance to build support for a ceasefire in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II and to encourage more Chinese investment in France.
Paris’s trade deficit with China widened to €46 billion in 2024, a gap the French leader wants to shrink.
Xi and First Lady Peng Liyuan welcomed Macron and his wife Brigitte with a red carpet, an honour guard and flag-waving children.
Behind the ceremony, the talks were more restrained.
Macron told Xi that France and China must work through their “differences”, while the Chinese leader called for “more stable” ties.
Their meeting comes as diplomatic efforts to halt the nearly four-year war in Ukraine gain speed. Macron has been promoting an alternative to a US-backed peace plan criticised by many as mirroring Russian demands. Standing beside Xi, he said cooperation between Paris and Beijing would be “decisive”.
“We must continue to work towards peace and stability in the world, and in Ukraine and other regions affected by war,” he said. “The conflict poses a vital threat to European security, but also to respect for the international order based on the rule of law.”
Xi repeated Beijing’s broad support for a ceasefire. “China supports all efforts committed to peace and hopes that all parties will reach a fair, lasting and binding peace agreement that is acceptable to all parties through dialogue and negotiation,” he said.
Macron, who will host the G7 summit next year, also urged China to work with the group towards “more balanced, fairer” rules-based economic governance.
Macron begins China visit as Europe faces trade and security tensions
Pressure on Ukraine
Macron’s visit follows a stop in Paris by Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been urging Europe to stay firm behind Kyiv as Washington promotes its own proposal to end the conflict.
China often calls for peace talks and respect for territorial integrity, but it has avoided condemning Russia for its 2022 invasion.
Western governments have accused Beijing of giving Moscow key economic support, including military-use components for Russia’s defence industry.
The Élysée Palace said Macron would press Xi to ensure China “refrain from providing any means, by any means, to Russia to continue the war”.
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Trade strains
Economic tension also loomed large. The EU faces an over €300 billion trade deficit with China, prompting calls across the bloc for greater balance.
“It is necessary for China to consume more and export less... and for Europeans to save less and produce more,” one of Macron’s advisers said.
Macron has long argued that Europe should reduce its dependence on China, especially in strategic sectors such as technology.
Only last month, he told a summit of European tech leaders that the EU does not want to become a “vassal” of US and Chinese tech giants.
Panda diplomacy
Macron’s schedule also includes talks with Premier Li Qiang before he heads to Chengdu, once home to two giant pandas loaned to France.
The bears were returned earlier this year, but China’s embassy has said new ones will soon be sent back.
Xi confirmed on Thursday that China and France have agreed a fresh deal on panda conservation.
“The French people love giant pandas,” he said. “On the basis of the previous cooperation, both sides will carry out a new round of cooperation in giant panda protection.”
(with newswires)
