French head of state Emmanuel Macron will meet the French community this Wednesday afternoon, ahead of an intensive day of talks on Thursday with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and a trip to Guangzhou, in southern China, on Friday.
“China, with its close relationship with Russia, reaffirmed in recent days, can play an important role” on the road to peace in Ukraine, Macron stated, highlighting Beijing’s opposition to the use of nuclear weapons in the conflict, as well as China’s peace proposal.
Macron said France would work with China “on this shared responsibility for peace and stability” in Ukraine.
In fact, Macron will discuss the war in Ukraine and bilateral economic relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Also in China is the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
For Paris, China is an unavoidable player in the face of the various challenges of the international context, starting with the conflict in Ukraine due to Beijing’s proximity to Russia, while Chinese diplomacy sees the meeting between Macron and Jinping as necessary to determine the future development of Sino-French relations and to “deepen cooperation with France and Europe in various fields”.
Paris wants to restore relations with the Chinese at all levels and to restart cultural exchange, especially between students from both countries.
Macron will thus usher in the French-Chinese festival “Croisements”, presented as the largest foreign festival in China.
The French president will be accompanied by director Jean-Jacques Annaud, musician Jean-Michel Jarre and on the Chinese side, actress Gong Li and painter Yan Pei-ming will be present.
On Chinese soil, Macron will also be accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The two European representatives will have their own agenda, but will have a joint meeting with the Chinese president before Thursday.
Ursula von der Leyen plans another meeting with Xi Jinping, but this time alone.
Along with Ukraine, the community’s executive leader will speak with the Ukrainian president before heading to the Asian country, a spokeswoman said, and plans to discuss EU-China relations with Xi Jinping.
News updated at 11:14
Source: DN
