Xi Jinping arrived in Paris, today he will meet Macron – WN24.cz – World News 24

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in France yesterday and is due to officially begin his two-day visit to the country today to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of French-Chinese diplomatic relations. Subsequently, he will also visit Serbia and Hungary. He visited the continent for the first time since the covid-19 pandemic. CNN and Euronews report on it.

On Sunday, he met French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal at the airport in Paris. Today, according to world media, he is to officially begin his visit to France and Europe – the first since the covid-19 pandemic and at a time of mutual tension.

China condemns the war in Ukraine and calls for a diplomatic solution, but refuses to condemn it and supports Moscow as a strong ally, the Euronews server reminds. The West is urging China to put pressure on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Then there are issues around the Indo-Pacific, the trade war with the US and espionage or cyber attacks. However, they believe that countries with completely different systems can have friendly relations with each other. He announced this after his arrival in Paris.

The highlight of his agenda is a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, with whom he will discuss conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, global issues such as the climate crisis and business opportunities.

Fear of a trade war

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will also take part in the discussion. According to the Elysee Palace, the Chinese president will also visit the southern French department of Hautes-Pyrénées and then travel to Serbia and Hungary.

According to CNN, the motivation for visiting Europe is mainly an effort to impress China’s critics and show that even if some countries are reserved towards the communist country, others welcome it with open arms – and above all, Xi is worried about the disruption of trade.

Any restriction or disruption to trade would come at a bad time given the stability of China’s economy. China wants to ensure that Europe does not get closer to the American trade policy towards the communist country.

Analysts agree that it will be very difficult to make progress in Europe-China relations unless Xi makes more concessions. His trip will thus rather underline the great European-Chinese contradictions as well as contradictions outside of Europe, playing in Beijing’s favor.