For his first official trip to China in 2018, Emmanuel Macron had decided to offer Chinese President Xi Jinping, in response to the panda diplomacy practiced by Beijing, a French Republican Guard horse, a French saddle called Vesuvius de Brekka.
Five years later, the President of the Republic did not deviate from the rule of diplomatic gifts for his third state visit to the Asian country, leaving for Beijing with suitcases loaded with gifts, as BFM TV learned.
A Sèvres porcelain vase
The first gift that Xi Jinping will receive: a Sèvres porcelain vase, which “will highlight both French know-how and the historical ties that have united France and China for several centuries and that feed a reciprocal inspiration,” the Elysée reported.
Appeared in China around the 7th century, the porcelain It was only discovered by Europeans in the 13th century, by the Italian Marco Polo. Brought back to Europe, he immediately aroused the enthusiasm of the crowned chiefs, and the establishment of trade relations between East and West led to the massive importation of porcelain products. Before factories like the one in Sèvres opened their doors in the 18th century, once the secret of manufacturing was discovered.
The model that Emmanuel Macron offers to his Chinese counterpart is a blue vase, decorated with a “multitude of golden fish”.
Two photographs by Marc Riboud
The President of the Republic will also present Xi Jinping with two photographs of Marc Riboud, whose centenary is celebrated this year. Member of the Magnum Photos agency, the photographer who died in 2016 is famous for his reports in Asia, and in particular in China.
The first photograph offered to Xi Jinping is titled Old windows, Beijing, 1965. With a unique composition, it shows a street in the Chinese capital, seen through the multiple openings of a shop window, where the daily life of the inhabitants is captured.
the second is called the baguettesand shows a young man on the streets of Paris, with two long baguettes in his hand, a French tradition that entered UNESCO’s intangible heritage in 2022.
Emmanuel Macron will also gift Xi Jinping with two books related to the work of Marc Riboud: a photo album published by Editions de La Martinière that chronicles his 50-year journey through China, and the exhibition catalogue. marc ribudcurrently visible at the Musée des Confluences in Lyon.
an old tradition
Supposed to illustrate French know-how but also to show the ties that unite France with another nation, diplomatic gifts are the fruit of a long history.
In the past, some have even aroused popular fervor, such as the Zarafa giraffe, offered to Charles X in 1826 by the Ottoman Egyptian viceroy Mehemet Ali. The first giraffe to set foot on French soil, Zarafa aroused unprecedented enthusiasm during his journey from Marseille to Paris.
Source: BFM TV
