Emmanuel Macron is planning a trip to China to discuss energy, trade and Russia’s war against Ukraine with President Xi Jinping, according to people familiar with his thinking.
(Bloomberg) — Emmanuel Macron is planning a trip to China to discuss energy, trade and Russia’s war against Ukraine with President Xi Jinping, according to people familiar with his thinking.
While no date has been scheduled yet, the French president will try to make the trip by the end of April, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the arrangements are private.
The Chinese foreign affairs ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Macron’s planned visit would come as the European Union is seeking to recalibrate its trading position toward both China and the US. The EU is in the process of building a new industrial policy after Washington passed a climate law that the bloc’s leaders say unfairly subsidizes domestic companies.
Diplomatic ties between Paris and Beijing were strained during the Covid pandemic, when the Chinese embassy criticized France’s response to the pandemic.
But in a sign that France has been seeking an improvement in relations, Xi and Macron spoke in November on the sideline of the Group of 20 meeting in Bali, their first meeting in three years. In December, French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna met with her counterpart Wang Yi.
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