French President Emmanuel Macron has urged China and France to look beyond their political and strategic disagreements as he met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday for wide-ranging talks dominated by the war in Ukraine and the state of global trade.
The meeting, held at the Great Hall of the People, marked Macron’s fourth visit to China since taking office and came at a moment of intense geopolitical recalibration between Europe, China and the United States.
Speaking alongside Xi, Macron said the two countries had a responsibility to work together despite diverging views on key issues.
“Sometimes there are differences, but it is our responsibility to overcome them for the greater good.”
French President Emmanuel Macron
He stressed that “our capacity to work together is decisive,” particularly in relation to the conflict in Ukraine.
Macron’s appeal on Ukraine followed a meeting in Paris with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just days earlier, as diplomatic efforts led in part by the United States continue to push for a ceasefire.
With Russia intensifying operations in eastern Ukraine, Zelenskyy has been seeking renewed guarantees that Kyiv’s territorial integrity will not be sacrificed in any potential negotiations.
French officials made clear that Macron’s mission in Beijing included an unambiguous request: that China play a constructive role in restraining Moscow.
“What we want … is that China can convince and influence Russia to move toward a ceasefire as quickly as possible,” a French diplomatic source told the Associated Press, adding that Paris expected Beijing to “refrain from providing Russia with any means whatsoever to continue the war.”
China has refused to condemn Russia’s 2022 invasion, maintaining what it calls a “neutral position,” though Western governments have long viewed Beijing’s stance as tacit support for Moscow.
During Thursday’s talks, Xi’s response was nuanced but cautious. He called for efforts to “make the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and France more stable” and added that China was willing to work with France “to exclude any interference,” a remark analysts interpreted as a signal that Beijing remains wary of Western pressure on its Russia policy.
Economic Imbalances and Trade Tensions
Beyond geopolitics, trade dominated much of the dialogue. France and the wider European Union are seeking to address a ballooning trade deficit with China, which has widened by nearly 60 percent since 2019.
European leaders have increasingly warned that the current imbalance is unsustainable, particularly at a time when China is chasing diplomatic and economic wins in the face of mounting US tariffs.
Macron, who traveled with a delegation of senior French business leaders, stressed the need for a more equitable global economic system.
“Our two countries have a role to play in laying out, with other partners, the foundations for rebalanced economic governance.”
French President Emmanuel Macron
He also urged China to cooperate with Group of Seven nations in creating “fairer and stronger rules,” rather than allowing competition to devolve into what he described as a global “survival of the fittest.”
For China, the meeting offered an opportunity to reinforce ties with a major European power at a moment of heightened economic scrutiny from the EU, including investigations into Chinese electric vehicle subsidies.
Beijing is also seeking avenues to counterbalance US trade pressure, making cooperation with France symbolically and economically valuable.
The talks culminated in the signing of 12 cooperation agreements covering a range of sectors, including population ageing, bilateral investment, nuclear energy, and panda conservation, an emblematic area of Chinese soft power often referred to as “panda diplomacy.”
On Friday, Xi is scheduled to accompany Macron to Sichuan province, where two giant pandas previously loaned to France were recently returned.
The visit is expected to highlight ongoing cultural cooperation between the nations, even as political and economic tensions persist.
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