Macron, Von der Leyen press China's Xi on trade in Paris talks
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 [May 06, 2024]
By Elizabeth Pineau and Tassilo Hummel
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission
chief Ursula von der Leyen urged China's President Xi Jinping to ensure
more balanced trade at the start of a visit to Paris by the Chinese
leader, during which Macron will also press him on Ukraine.
Xi was in Europe for the first time in five years, at a time of growing
trade tensions, with the European Union investigating several Chinese
industries including electric vehicle exports, while Beijing is probing
mostly French-made imports of brandy.
Macron said Europe and China were at a junction in history that required
resolving structural difficulties, including reaching a level playing
field for businesses.
"The future of our continent will also very clearly depend on our
capacity to further develop in a balanced way our relationship with
China," he said as the three sat a round table under the gilded ceilings
of the Elysee Palace.
Minutes before, Macron and Xi shook hands in the Elysee's courtyard
while the Republican Guard's orchestra played welcome music.
Macron has a tendency to hug his counterparts but Xi doesn't. This time,
Macron just seemed to give Xi's arm a squeeze as they were shaking
hands. Macron, who welcomed him in the courtyard, walked inside the
Elysee palace with him.
In brief public comments ahead of talks behind closed doors, Xi
responded that he viewed relations with Europe as a priority of China's
foreign policy and that both should stay committed to the partnership.
"As the world enters a new period of turbulence and change, as two
important forces in this world, China and Europe should adhere to the
positioning of partners, adhere to dialogue and cooperation..." Xi said.
Von der Leyen said China and Europe have a shared interest in peace and
security, but that the relation is challenged by issues linked to market
access and trade.
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French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with President Xi
Jinping as he arrives for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris as
part of the Chinese president's two-day state visit in France, May
6, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
"We have a substantial EU-China economic relationship," she said.
"But this relationship is also challenged, for example, through
state induced overcapacity, unequal market access and
overdependencies and these are all issues that we will address
today."
NOT UNIFIED
The EU's 27 members - in particular France and Germany - are not
unified in their attitude towards China, which does not help
obtaining changes from China. While Paris advocates a tougher line
on the EV probe, Berlin wants to proceed with more caution, sources
say.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not join Macron and Xi in Paris
due to prior commitments, sources said.
France is also set to nudge China into pressuring Moscow to halt
operations in Ukraine, with little progress apart from Xi's decision
to call President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time shortly
after Macron visited Beijing last year.
France also hopes to push to open the Chinese market for its
agricultural exports and resolve issues around the French cosmetic
industry's concerns about intellectual property rights, officials
said. China, meanwhile, may announce an order for around 50 Airbus
aircraft during Xi's visit.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Tassilo Hummel, Ingrid Melander,
Geert de Clercq and Gabriel Stargardter in Paris, Sudip Kar-Gupta in
Brussels, Ryan Woo, Laurie Chen and Ethan Wang in Beijing;
additional reporting by Andrew Gray in Brussels; Writing by Ingrid
Melander; Editing by Stephen Coates, William Maclean)
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