Overview
- At a joint appearance in the Great Hall of the People, Macron urged China to support a ceasefire to stop strikes on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, while Xi said China would play a constructive role and emphasized dialogue.
- No tangible policy shift from Beijing was evident on Ukraine or commerce, with China keeping close ties to Moscow and offering no relief on minimum pricing that has constrained French Cognac sales.
- Macron warned that the trade imbalance with China is becoming unsustainable and sought improved market access after EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles drew Chinese measures against French pork and dairy.
- France and China signed about a dozen cooperation intents covering areas such as natural resources, aerospace, nuclear energy, biomedicine, artificial intelligence and panda collaboration, and reported incremental progress on agricultural exports without a new large Airbus order.
- Chinese officials have sought European backing in a dispute with Japan over Taiwan, yet neither side publicly addressed Taiwan during Thursday’s events as Xi prepared to accompany Macron to Chengdu.