Published on May 5, 2024 at 07:41. / Modified on May 5, 2024 at 5:07 p.m.
Half a decade. This is how long it took to overcome the covid crisis and reconnect with Europe. Xi Jinping will begin a tour on Monday which will take him to France, then to Serbia and Hungary. He had not set foot on the continent since 2019, a diplomatic eternity. The opportunity to measure the extent of the disintegration of relationships. While China was coveted both for its market and for its investments five years ago, today it no longer represents a Source of growth but rather a challenge to its industries and its security. If she remains courted, it is for a completely different reason: her supposed ability to curb the warlike drift of her Russian ally. But is it in his interest?
The Chinese president will begin his journey on Monday in Paris where he will be received by Emmanuel Macron for a state visit. On the menu, commercial negotiations to avoid a protectionist spiral where there will be a question of electric cars and solar panels as well as cognac and tripe. Xi Jinping will argue against the European temptation of economic decoupling with China, on which it would have become too dependent after a quarter of a century of globalization, while plowing the ground for political decoupling between the Europeans and the United States, their alliance being the main brake on the affirmation of a new world order desired by Beijing. The French president, who has just repeated in a speech at the Sorbonne that Brussels should not become a vassal of Washington, is a choice host to drive a wedge into the transatlantic relationship.
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