Emmanuel Macron’s third trip to China starts Wednesday morning from Beijing. He will exchange three times with the Chinese president to try to discourage him from supporting Russia in the war in Ukraine.
For the third time, Emmanuel Macron is going to China. The president arrives Wednesday, April 5 in Beijing. He will be there until Friday morning, before a stopover in Canton, in the south of the country. This visit is the first since the Covid pandemic and the start of the war in Ukraine. As China tightens its ties with Russia, the president wants to do everything to prevent it from actively supporting Moscow.
>> The war in Ukraine at the heart of the issues of Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China
However, in recent months, Emmanuel Macron has been much more ambitious. The leader of theETat hoped to make China a mediator in the conflict. But Xi Jinping has still not condemned the Russian invasion, and he has always been careful so far not to exchange with Volodymyr Zelensky. Above all, the Chinese president went to Moscow 15 days ago, with a great show of friendship and support for Russia. Emmanuel Macron is forced to revise his ambitions downwards, and theElysée must warn against the worst: that Beijing supplies arms to Russia, “a fatal decision”, warns an adviser. In the meantime, the presidency is content to hope to find a hypothetical “dialogue space”. Especially since Emmanuel Macron does not want to reproduce the failure of negotiations with Vladimir Putin, just before the Russian invasion. This time, Emmanuel Macron is not acting alone. The President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, will take part in the exchanges tomorrow with Xi Jinping.
One of the few “to be able to exchange 6 to 7 hours with President Xi”
Changing Xi Jinping on the conflict in Ukraine will be very difficult for Emmanuel Macron. Few observers expect tangible results, but the idea behind theElysée is to explain that at least the president will have tried. Emmanuel Macron will exchange three times with Xi Jinping during this short stay: an interview, a dinnerEtat and a less formal dinner at a typical Guangzhou venue on Friday night. “He is one of the few heads of state in the world who can exchange 6 to 7 hours with President Xi”, do we cuddle upElysed. But, among these rare heads ofEStates, there is also Vladimir Putin, “a friend” of Xi Jinping in his own words.
>> Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China: French companies still very cautious after the end of the “zero Covid” policy
More prosaically, there are also Sino-European relations which can be a lever. China needs Europe as an outlet for its products, for its investments. There is mention of the signing of several contracts, particularly in aeronautics, for the benefit of France, proof also that it is not a question of rushing Beijing too much either, while China remains France’s largest trade deficit.