Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the latter's European visit and held discussions on a wide range of topics - mostly related to trade disputes and Ukraine-related diplomatic efforts. Xi told the media that his talks with Macron were "fruitful" and both sides agreed to work together to consolidate the strategic stability of the bilateral relations.
As the two leaders spoke at the press conference, Xi expressed his delight in making the third state visit to France at the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-France diplomatic relations. he said that the two countries will strive to unleash the great potential of mutually beneficial cooperation.
"The two sides should also enrich the bilateral relations with new features of the new era, and build a China-France relationship in the new era characterised by mutual trust, stability, commitment to fundamental principles while breaking new ground, and a strong sense of responsibility," said the Chinese president, adding that China is ready to maintain strategic communication with France.
Iran nuclear issue and Gaza ceasefire
Macron and Xi reaffirmed their commitment to promoting a political settlement of the Iran nuclear issue, while also calling for the "concrete implementation" of a two-state solution in Israel. The two leaders also "condemned" Israel's policy of settlement-building in the West Bank and reiterated their calls for a ceasefire.
The Chinese side calls on all parties to work for an immediate, comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza. China supports the full membership of Palestine in the United Nations, and supports restoring to Palestine its legitimate national rights and restarting the two-state solution, so as to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East, Xi said.
Both leaders also expressed their concerns regarding the situation in the Middle East, where Macron said France and China share the “same goals", that is “to achieve an immediate cease-fire to release hostages, protect the populations, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, encourage a regional de-escalation and reopen a political perspective". Xi called the Israel-Hamas war a “tragedy” that is “a test of human conscience".
Talks on Ukraine
Regarding the Ukraine crisis, Xi stressed that China has stated its position on the Ukraine crisis on many occasions - which is that Beijing is neither a party to nor a participant in the conflict. He stressed that China opposes attempts to use the Ukraine crisis to scapegoat or smear a third country or to stoke a "new Cold War".
“We welcome the Chinese authorities' commitments to refrain from selling any weapons or aid" and to “strictly control” sales of products and technologies that can be used for both civilian and military purposes, Macron said. Last year, Macron appealed to Xi to “bring Russia to its senses,” but the call wasn't followed by any apparent action by Beijing.
China supports convening an international peace conference on the Ukraine crisis at an appropriate time. The conference should be recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties and fair discussion of all peace plans, he further emphasised.
Agreements on trade, bilateral cooperation
Macron also thanked Xi for what he called "his open attitude" in an anti-dumping probe on cognac and other European brandy. "I thank the president for his open attitude regarding provisional measures on cognac and for his wish not to implement them," Macron told a joint press conference, adding France hoped its products could continue having access to the Chinese market.
A French diplomatic source told Reuters that China will not impose taxes or customs duties on French cognac until the probe is over. Meanwhile, Xi said China is willing to import more quality products from France and hoped that Paris would export more high-tech and high-value-added products to Beijing, as quoted by Xinhua.
"We welcome more French companies to invest in China, he said, adding that China hopes that France will provide a sound business environment and stable development expectations for Chinese companies to invest and cooperate in France," he said. French gifts to the Chinese president on Monday included luxury bottles of Cognac.
China also extended support to France in hosting a great Paris 2024 Olympic Games and welcomed the latter as the guest of honour at this year's China Annual Conference and Expo for International Education. The two sides signed 18 inter-departmental cooperation agreements, covering aviation, agriculture, humanities, green development, small and medium-sized enterprise cooperation and other fields
Why is Xi's Europe visit important?
Xi was greeted by the Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye at the airport after his arrival. On its way to the hotel, Xi's motorcade received a warm welcome from the local Chinese community, with people waving Chinese and French flags and holding banners hailing China-France friendship.
Macron was expected to raise the Ukraine issue to move Russia toward ending the war in Ukraine. Macron’s office said talks about diplomatic efforts to support Ukraine and put pressure on Russia are a top priority for France. France is the first stop on a European trip by Xi aimed at rebuilding relations at a time of global tensions. After France on Monday and Tuesday, the Chinese leader has now headed to Serbia and will later go to Hungary.
France hopes discussions will help convince China to use its leverage with Moscow to ‘’contribute to a resolution of the conflict” in Ukraine, according to a French presidential official. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently announced plans to visit China this month.
(with inputs from agencies)
