French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “very moved” by Xi’s departure from protocol to accompany him to Chengdu.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron met ahead of next year’s Group of Seven (G7) summit, hosted by France, and vowed to deepen cooperation on global issues.
State media said Xi hosted Macron in southwestern Chengdu on Friday, marking a rare occasion for the head of the world’s second-largest economy to accompany a guest beyond the capital Beijing.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
At the end of his three-day visit to China, President Macron and his wife Brigitte had lunch with the Chinese president and his wife in a more relaxed atmosphere than the day before.
President Macron began his day in Chengdu on Friday by surprising joggers at Jinchenghu Park, before joining Mr. Xi at the Dujiangyan dam, state media reported, according to a video circulating on Chinese social media. The dam has controlled the flow of water around Chengdu since the 3rd century BC.
After hosting Xi in May 2024 in Macron’s childhood home of the Pyrenees, Mr Macron said he was “very moved” by Mr Xi’s act, which was a departure from official protocol.
All of this is a sign of mutual trust and a desire to “act together,” he said, at a time when international tensions are rising and trade imbalances are widening in China’s favor.
Andy Mok of the China and Globalization Center in Beijing said in an interview with Al Jazeera that the visit highlighted the importance of promoting “trade cooperation” not only between France and China, but also between Greater Europe and China.
On Thursday, the two leaders met in Beijing’s more solemn Great Hall of the People, with tough discussions on ending Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and international trade.
Following the latest outburst of diplomacy over the US-led peace plan, President Macron is seeking to involve China in pressuring Russia for a ceasefire with Ukraine.
“We face the risk of the collapse of the international order that has brought peace to the world for decades. In this context, dialogue between China and France is even more important than ever,” President Macron said on Thursday.
“We hope that China will join our call and join our efforts to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible, at least in the form of a moratorium on attacks targeting critical infrastructure,” he said.
Mr. Xi did not respond to France’s call, but called for a peace agreement acceptable to all parties, saying “China supports all efforts towards peace.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China has provided Russia with strong diplomatic support and extended its economic lifeline through increased trade.
Mr Xi and Mr Macron’s meeting in Beijing on Thursday resulted in 12 cooperation agreements, including on topics such as population aging, nuclear energy and panda conservation.
The amount was not disclosed, but Macron is being accompanied by the heads of several prominent French companies on his fourth state visit to China.
State broadcaster CCTV reported on Friday that the two countries signed an agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for the export of French alfalfa to China. CCTV added that the two countries have also made “significant progress” in registering French pork white meat exporters to trade with China.
Meanwhile, Macron will meet students in Chengdu, China’s fourth-largest city, with a population of 21 million and considered one of the country’s most culturally and socially open cities.
President Brigitte Macron is scheduled to visit the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base. Two 17-year-old pandas lent to France in 2012 as part of China’s “panda diplomacy” have just returned to the base.
There, she will meet Yuan Meng, the first giant panda born in France in 2017 and her “godmother”, who will arrive in China in 2023.
