Trade will be high on agenda during Xi’s visit to Paris in May, sources say By Reuters

By Yew Lun Tian, Laurie Chen and John Irish

BEIJING/PARIS (Reuters) – Trade will be high on the agenda when Chinese President Xi Jinping meets his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris in May, diplomatic sources say, Xi’s first Europe trip in five years amid mounting EU-China tensions.

Macron was given an unusually lavish reception during his Beijing visit last year, viewed by analysts as a sign of China’s charm offensive towards key nations from the European bloc to counter the United States.

But since then, ties have been clouded by trade issues. Paris backed a European Commission anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicle imports, whose dominance in the EU market threatens European firms. France also introduced consumer subsidies for European-made EVs last December.

In response, China in January launched an anti-dumping investigation into brandy, a move seen to be targeting France, which accounts for 99.8% of all European Union brandy exports according to Chinese customs data.

“There will be a firm message on trade,” a French diplomatic source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“We won’t really know how the future will look after November’s U.S. elections so we need to move forward on priority subjects.”

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Elysée refused to comment.

The French diplomat said it was important to “preserve our capacity for dialogue at the highest level”, adding there was the need to pass on “firm” messages regarding China’s position on Ukraine, the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.

Over the last year, French officials have tried to influence Beijing to pressure Russia over its war in Ukraine and reduce its support for President Vladimir Putin.

Those efforts, led by Macron’s diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne, have so far failed to yield any results, but Paris believes it has a role to play as a balancing power in the conflict. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met Macron and Bonne in Paris last month.

In a January video message marking the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Paris and Beijing, Xi said he hoped both countries can “respond to the world’s uncertainties with the stability of China-France relations” and highlighted green industries and clean energy as potential areas of cooperation.

Chinese state media have heavily promoted Franco-Chinese cultural exchanges this year.

Beijing gave 15-day visa-free entry to tourists from the EU’s five biggest economies including France last November, a policy which has since been expanded to more European nations, in a bid to attract foreign tourism after the pandemic.