PARIS: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday arrived in France on a state visit hosted by Emmanuel Macron where the French leader will seek to push his counterpart on issues ranging from Ukraine to trade.
Xi's arrival for the visit marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between France and China was the start of his first trip to Europe since 2019 which will also see him visit Serbia and Hungary.
But Xi's choice of France as the sole major European power to visit indicates the relative warmth in Sino-French relations since Macron made his own state visit to China in April 2023 and acknowledges the French leader's stature as an EU powerbroker.
The leader of the Communist state of more than 1.4 billion people, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, was to be welcomed at Paris Orly airport by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
Xi is to hold a day of talks in Paris on Monday -- also including EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen -- followed by a state banquet hosted by Macron.
Tuesday will see Macron take Xi to the Pyrenees mountains to an area he used to visit as a boy for a day of less public and more intimate talks.
A key priority of Macron will be to warn Xi of the danger of backing Russia in its attack of Ukraine, with Western officials concerned Moscow is already using Chinese machine tools in arms production.
"It is in our interest to get China to weigh in on the stability of the international order," said Macron in an interview with the Economist published on Thursday. "We must, therefore, work with China to build peace," he added.
Macron also said in the same interview Europe must defend its "strategic interests" in its economic relations with China.
Macron will be able to exercise much sway over the Chinese leader. The other two countries chosen by Xi for his tour, Serbia and Hungary, are seen as among the most sympathetic to Moscow in Europe. "The two core messages from Macron will be on Chinese support to Russia's military capabilities and Chinese market-distorting practices," said Janka Oertel, director of the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. — AFP
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