Even when US President Donald Trump made a landmark visit to China early during his first term in 2017, and Xi lavished him with a private dinner within Beijing's Forbidden City, the trip was confined to the Chinese capital. 

But despite the apparent bonhomie between Xi and Macron, the French president's visit so far has resulted in little beyond bolstering Beijing's diplomatic credentials, as world leaders turn to China seeking economic assurances due to Trump's tariffs, analysts say. It has also provided Macron with a chance to project statesmanship after a tough summer  in domestic politics. 

Investors are watching to see whether a day that began with the French president surprising fellow joggers in the city's Jincheng Lake Park, before joining Xi at a historic dam site, will end with major commercial deals or a thaw in EU-China trade tensions, given that Macron has been joined on his fourth state visit to China by the heads of some of France's biggest firms.

A meeting in the Chinese capital on Thursday only resulted in 12 cooperation agreements covering areas such as population ageing, nuclear energy and panda conservation, and no monetary total was disclosed.

"I think they (France) thought that Xi would be in a position to offer a lot because Europe is really preparing this economic security doctrine," said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, senior fellow at the think tank Bruegel.

"Macron probably felt that given his weight and the fact that France is clearly the one that is pushing the most on economic security, that they would get a deal, but nope."

Still, the French president will take the publicity win from receiving a rock-star welcome from students at Sichuan University, who crowded around him before a speech in which he urged China to reflect on its role in global affairs.

"We are at a moment of unprecedented rupture," Macron said. "The world we built after World War II, which was based on what we call multilateralism and therefore cooperation between powers is cracking, fracturing."

Macron also took aim at China's notion that the West's power is waning. 

"Plenty of people will try to tell you that Europe is old," he said. "That the rich countries you find in the G7 are arrogant. That the West is looking down on the Global South. But all of that is a narrative, a fabrication."

Beijing may see friendly ties with France as a way into expanding its influence within the 27-strong EU, but is very constrained in its ability to offer Paris major concessions. 

The Chinese leader was not expected to sign off on a long-anticipated 500-jet Airbus order, for example, as that would reduce China's leverage in trade talks with the U.S., which is pressing for new Boeing commitments. 

Xi is also unlikely to ease conditions for French cognac makers or pork producers, as doing so would weaken Beijing's negotiating position with Brussels over tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

Nor can Xi offer Macron a breakthrough on the war in Ukraine for him to take back to Europe, with China having recently reaffirmed its support for Russia.

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