Advertisement
China-France relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Trade, Russia, Middle East on the table as Xi Jinping, Emmanuel Macron lunch high up in the Pyrenees

  • Airport welcome by French President Emmanuel Macron is followed by motorcade to restaurant up one of the steepest Tour de France challenges
  • Relaxed setting chosen so Macron and Chinese leader Xi Jinping can speak frankly on myriad mutual grievances and grounds for cooperation

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
36
Chinese President Xi Jinping with his host and counterpart Emmanuel Macron at a restaurant in the Pyrenees mountains on Tuesday. Photo: AP
Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels

In the blustery Pyrenees mountains on Tuesday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping had lunch with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. On the menu: everything from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Middle East crisis to trade, biodiversity and climate change.

Advertisement
The setting was chosen to be relaxed and allow the two presidents to speak frankly. It was here that Macron spent childhoods in La Mongie, a village at 1,800 metres (5,905 feet) above sea level, where he and his wife Brigitte frequently ski.

They were expected to discuss grounds for cooperation, such as environmental and climatic issues, and – according to media reports – attempt to thrash out more agreements to be added to the 37 intergovernmental accords signed on Monday.

These covered everything from artificial intelligence governance and battery manufacturing, to the war in Gaza and access to the Chinese market for French pork farmers.

Xi’s visit has yet to deliver major Airbus orders, a staple on the French agenda, with Reuters reporting that negotiations on plane purchases would go down to the wire.

The Chinese and French presidents and their wives, Peng Liyuan and Brigitte Macron, watch folk dancers perform at the Tourmalet pass in the Pyrenees mountains. Photo: AP
The Chinese and French presidents and their wives, Peng Liyuan and Brigitte Macron, watch folk dancers perform at the Tourmalet pass in the Pyrenees mountains. Photo: AP

After being greeted at the airport by Macron, Xi’s motorcade climbed the Col du Tourmalet, a mountain ascent that provides cyclists with one of the steepest challenges of the Tour de France.

Advertisement