Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Paris with EU trade, Ukraine among hot button issues on table
- Accompanying Xi on his first European tour in five years is his wife Peng Liyuan, chief of staff Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi
- Thorniest China-EU issues to be on table when Xi meets French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday
Accompanying Xi on his first European tour in five years is his wife Peng Liyuan, chief of staff Cai Qi, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a statement from Beijing. The five-day trip will also take Xi to Serbia and Hungary.
The delegation is expected to spend two days in France, with Xi to meet President Emmanuel Macron and the European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Paris on Monday, ahead of a state dinner.
The European Union has stepped up its “de-risking” approach to address economic overdependence on China, and what it calls Beijing’s increasing geopolitical “assertiveness” as relations with the West worsen.
The drive includes investigations targeting China’s clean energy industry – where it has emerged as a global leader – involving products including electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines, with Beijing accused of “flooding” the European market with heavily subsidised cheaper products.
Macron, who is known for his pro-European approach, is a major supporter of the bloc’s tougher economic measures against China. He is also believed to be a proponent of the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese EVs, which has prompted Beijing to retaliate with a similar investigation into French brandy.
