by John Irish and Ingrid Melander
PARIS, May 5 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Paris on Sunday for a two-day official visit during which Emmanuel Macron will encourage him to reduce trade imbalances and try to convince him to put pressure on Russia to to end the war in Ukraine.
However, these two objectives appear difficult to achieve in a context of worsening trade tensions between Europe and China.
France thus pushed the European Union to open an investigation into the subsidies granted by China to its electric vehicle manufacturers, to the great dismay of Beijing which retaliated in January by initiating its own investigation into cognac imports.
“We must continue to encourage the Chinese authorities to give us more guarantees on trade issues,” declared an advisor to the Elysée before the arrival of the Chinese leader.
The plane carrying Xi Jinping landed shortly before 4 p.m. (2 p.m. GMT) on Sunday at Orly airport, where Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was waiting.
“For 60 years, China-France relations have been at the forefront of ties between China and major Western countries, providing the international community with a good example of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries with common interests. different systems,” Xi Jinping said in a written speech broadcast by the Xinhua news agency.
The Chinese president, who says he is ready to “consolidate traditional friendship, strengthen mutual trust, develop a strategic consensus and deepen exchanges and cooperation with France”, is due to meet on Monday with Emmanuel Macron and with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
DEAF DIALOGUE?
The divisions within the Twenty-Seven, particularly between France and Germany, which was not in favor of the investigation into Chinese electric vehicles for fear of losing market share in China, however reduce the capacity of these last to influence Beijing.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not be able to travel to Paris for the talks due to other commitments, sources said.
“It’s difficult to have influence if European leaders send contradictory messages to Xi,” notes Noah Barkin, analyst at Rhodium Group.
France is also trying to convince China to put pressure on Russia so that the latter puts an end to its aggression in Ukraine, without tangible results, the two neighbors having on the contrary become closer on the military and commercial levels since the start of the conflict.
“As China is one of Russia’s main partners, our goal is to use its influence on Moscow in order to change Moscow’s calculations and help contribute to the resolution of the conflict,” said the adviser to the ‘Elysium.
“If the Chinese seek to deepen their relationship with their European partners, it is very important that they hear our point of view and that they begin to take it seriously,” a French diplomatic Source wants to believe.
Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron will travel to the Pyrenees on Tuesday, the region where the French president’s maternal grandmother was born.
“(Emmanuel) Macron is always charming, trying to rally foreign leaders to his cause by establishing a personal relationship with them,” emphasizes Noah Barkin.
“However, I hope that he is not under any illusions and that he does not think that taking Xi (Jinping) to a place of his childhood important to him will move him and lead to a compromise with Beijing. “
The Chinese leader will leave France on Tuesday to travel to Serbia before completing his European tour in Hungary. (John Irish and Michel Rose, with Noémie Olive at Orly, written by Ingrid Melander and Tangi Salaün)
