Chinese leader Xi Jinping accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron to the city of Chengdu on Wednesday, the second day of his two-day visit to China, a rare gesture by a Chinese head of state to the leader of Europe's second-largest economy, and underscoring Beijing's focus on ties with Paris in its relations with the European Union, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Even when US President Donald Trump made a historic visit to China at the start of his first term in 2017 and Xi Jinping honored him with a private dinner at Beijing's Forbidden City, the trip was limited to the Chinese capital.
Despite the apparent cordiality between Xi Jinping and Macron, the French president's visit yielded few results other than strengthening Beijing's diplomatic position, analysts said. It also gave Macron a chance to show off his statesmanship after a difficult summer of domestic politics.
The meeting between the two leaders in the Chinese capital on Thursday resulted in only 12 agreements on cooperation in areas such as population aging, nuclear energy and panda conservation, with their total value not disclosed, Reuters noted.
The French president will still benefit from the publicity he received after being welcomed like a rock star by students at Sichuan University who crowded around him before a speech in which he called on China to reflect on its role in global affairs.
The meeting with the students followed Macron's talks with his counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing and a promise that China would send France two giant pandas by 2027 as part of "panda diplomacy," Agence France-Presse noted.
In Chengdu at the local university Hundreds of students, gathered behind barricades, chanted "Makelong". That's Macron's name in Chinese.
In front of them, it was Macron who warned them not to give in to the "sirens of division". He referred to the faults in the world order and the division into blocs.
"We are in a moment of unprecedented divisions", Macron said, adding: "The world that we built after the Second World War, based on what we call a multilateral approach and therefore on cooperation between the great powers, is falling apart, is falling apart".
Macron also criticized the thesis that the power of the West is in decline.
Macron then spent an hour talking to students, during which he said that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council should be gathered around one table to discuss important topics.
Macron also called on students to come to study in France, to learn French, but also mathematics and artificial intelligence.
Beijing may see friendly relations with France as a way to expand its influence in the EU, but it is severely limited in his ability to offer Paris significant concessions.
For example, the Chinese leader was not expected to sign the long-awaited order for 500 Airbus planes, as this would reduce China's influence in trade talks with the United States, which is pushing for new commitments from the country to buy Boeing planes.
It is also unlikely that Xi Jinping will ease conditions for French cognac or pork producers, as this would weaken Beijing's position in negotiations with Brussels over tariffs on Chinese electric cars, Reuters points out.
Xi Jinping also did not raise the issue of a trade agreement with the EU with Macron – something that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did during a visit by the Estonian foreign minister last month and that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has been pushing even though negotiations on a historic EU-China investment pact have been frozen since 2021.
The vote to adopt the European Commission’s tariffs on electric cars divided EU member states, with France voting in favor of the tariffs and Germany, Europe’s largest economy, voting against.
China could try to capitalize on these differences.
"It is interesting that they (the Chinese) continue to raise the issue (of a trade deal) with EU member states," a senior European Commission official told Reuters.
"We have no plans to conclude any trade deal with China," he added.