French President Emmanuel Macron invites his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping today to mountain walk in the Pyrenees, France Press reported. The two first ladies will accompany their husbands.
The mountain walk comes a day after Xi was given a ceremonial welcome in Beijing and held talks with Macron and EC President Ursula von der Leyen. The main topics of these discussions were the trade imbalance and Ukraine.
Now the two leaders and their spouses will go to the ski resort of La Mongie, where they will also have lunch at a local restaurant, whose chef Macron knows well and has visited often.
In this region of France, Macron used to come on vacation with his grandparents. He also has cousins there.
On the first day of Xi's visit, France and China signed several trade agreements in the fields of energy, transport and finance. The French government has also promised to facilitate the issuance of visas for Chinese people traveling to France for work or tourism.
Macron also presented Xi with French cognac and thanked him for not imposing temporary tariffs on imports of the drink into China. French cognac is the subject of an anti-dumping investigation by Chinese authorities.
Macron also presented Xi with the works of Victor Hugo, as well as an edition of the first French-Chinese dictionary published in 1742 and a vase of multicolored glass sculpted in the glass workshops of Amboise.
Yesterday evening, the French president hosted a state dinner in Xi's honor, to which French celebrities including Sophie Moressault and Mireille Mathieu were invited.