Beijing (BLAZETRENDS).- The Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang, said today before the French President, Emmanuel Macron, that he expects “broad consensus” to boost ties and send “positive signals” that promote “global stability”.
Li assured that China holds its relationship with France “in high esteem” and that he hopes that Macron’s trip, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, will leave “a broad consensus,” reported the local press.
He added that such a consensus would send “positive signals” on cooperation between China and France, and between China and Europe, to “promote world peace and stability.”
Li emphasized at the beginning of the meeting that Macron is “the first leader of a major Western country” to visit China since Chinese President Xi Jinping was re-elected for a third presidential term, reported the South China Morning Post.
“This shows the importance of China-France relations,” Li said.
For its part, the Élysée indicated in a statement that Macron “addressed the conflict in Ukraine” – without offering further details – as well as “the question of access of French companies to the Chinese market, in particular the aeronautical, food and financial sectors ”.
Macron also met today with the president of the National People’s Assembly (ANP, Legislative), Zhao Leji, before whom he stressed “the impact of the war in Ukraine on security and global strategic balances,” according to the Elysee.
Zhao, quoted by the Chinese state agency Xinhua, indicated that China is “willing to work with France to promote practical cooperation and strengthen communication on major international and regional issues.”
According to the Chinese agency, Macron assured that France is “committed to developing relations with China since independence.”
The French president landed in Beijing on Wednesday for a visit during which he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he will also have a trilateral meeting together with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Macron is the second European leader to travel to China -after the Spanish Pedro Sánchez last week- since Xi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to present his peace proposals for the war in Ukraine and show the solidity of your relationship.
On Friday, Macron will travel to the southern city of Guangdong, where he will meet Chinese students from Sun Yat-Sen University and Chinese investors, as well as have dinner with Xi again.
The local media highlight that this will be the first time that a French president visits the city and affirm that a large part of the delegation that accompanies the president has economic interests in the region, such as representatives of Airbus, EDF, Alstom or Veolia, for which reason on the trip they will seek to close commercial agreements.
For his part, Von der Leyen’s trip comes just a week after his speech at the European Policy Center (EPC) in Brussels, in which he analyzed China’s aspirations to become the leading world power, listed some of the friction between Brussels and Beijing and called to maintain “an open line of communication with China”.
