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China regards Europe as priority of foreign policy, Xi says
China and the EU should stay committed to partnership, Xi said in opening remarks at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
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(From left) Chinese President Xi Jinping, France's President Emmanuel Macron, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hold a trilateral meeting as part of the Chinese president's two-day state visit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 6, 2024. (AFP/Gonzalo Fuentes)
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hina regards Europe as a priority of its foreign policy, and sees China-EU relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, President Xi Jinping said on Monday in Paris.
China and the EU should stay committed to partnership, Xi said in opening remarks at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Macron meanwhile pressed Xi to coordinate closely with Europe in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and accept fair global trade rules as the Chinese leader began a state visit to France.
Xi's first visit to Europe since 2019 will also see him hold talks in Serbia and Hungary. Xi has said he wants to find peace in Ukraine even if analysts do not expect major changes in Chinese policy.
But his choice of France as the sole major European power on his itinerary indicates the importance the leader of the one-party Communist state of more than 1.4 billion people accords to Macron as an EU powerbroker over two years into Russia's invasion.
Opening an initial trilateral meeting attended by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Macron said coordination with Beijing on "major crises" including Ukraine was "absolutely decisive" and urged "fair rules for all" in Europe-China trade.
"The future of our continent will very clearly depend on our ability to continue to develop relations with China in a balanced manner," Macron said.
In an op-ed for Le Figaro daily, Xi said he wanted to work with the international community to find ways to resolve the conflict sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while emphasising that China was "neither a party nor a participant".
"We hope that peace and stability will return quickly to Europe, and intend to work with France and the entire international community to find good paths to resolve the crisis," he wrote.
Von der Leyen said she will press for "fair" competition with China in global trade, adding that in previous talks with Xi she had "made clear that the current imbalances in market access are not sustainable and need to be addressed".
"We have been very clear-eyed about our relationship with China, which is one of the most complex, but also one of the most important," she said.
