French President #emmanuelmacron and #europeancommission President #ursulavonderleyen visited #China from April 5 to 7, 2023, as part of an effort by #European leaders to engage with #China, following recent visits by #German Chancellor #olafscholz and #Spanish PM #PedroSánchez. Macron, accompanied by von der Leyen, stated that it is essential for the #West to engage with China to put an end to the crisis and prevent escalating tensions that could divide global powers into conflicting #blocs.
Some of the Key Takeaways from the visit are:
- The joint statement released during the visit highlighted #China's #dedication to strengthening relations with the #EU by promoting high-level exchanges, building agreements on strategic issues, facilitating personnel exchanges, collaboratively addressing global challenges, and promoting #economiccooperation in a balanced and active manner.
- #Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine provided a fraught backdrop for Macron’s landmark mission to China. Macron used the opportunity to urge Beijing to persuade Russia to act sensibly in the #ukrainewar, pointing out that Russia's aggressive actions had negatively affected #globalstability.
- The joint statement issued by #China and #France expressed their commitment to support efforts towards restoring peace in #Ukraine based on international law and the #unitednations Charter's goals and principles. They also endorsed the United Nations nuclear agency's initiatives to enhance the #security of "peaceful nuclear installations," including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, which has been a target of shelling during the ongoing conflict.
- During the diplomatic mission, President Xi confirmed his willingness to speak to Ukrainian President #Zelenskiy, stating that a conversation could occur when the "conditions and time are right."
- President Macron expressed his desire to revitalize France's #strategic and #global partnership with China, with the aim of strengthening the trade relationship between the two nations, promoting #shared #responsibility for #peace and #stability, and reaffirming a #common framework of action on major international issues such as #climatechange and #biodiversity protection.
- To promote #cultural exchange, the two sides agreed to designate 2024 as a "China-France Year of Culture and Tourism," with collaborations between various cultural sites in both countries. France is seeking to attract Chinese #tourists with high spending power following the relaxation of pandemic travel restrictions.
- France also committed to treating #Chinese #enterprises' license applications in the #digitaleconomy and #5G sector fairly and without discrimination.
- #France characterized the talks between the leaders as "frank and constructive," while #China described them as "friendly" and "in-depth."
