Beijing, April 6, (dpa/GNA) – French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday for talks.
There will be bilateral as well as trilateral meetings, with the talks expected to focus on the war in Ukraine, as well as economic relations.
Macron has already been in China since Wednesday for a three-day visit, accompanied by a delegation of 60 French managers, in order to boost business activities.
The meetings come after a critical speech delivered by von der Leyen last week calling for a better balance of relations between the European Union and China.
She underlined that the EU must become more independent and reduce the economic risks relating to dependence on one particular region.
She stressed however, that it is not in Europe’s interest to turn away from China completely.
The EU leader referred to this strategy as a means of diplomatic and economic “de-risking.”
Russia’s war on Ukraine is a further key area of focus. Paris has said that the closeness of China and Russia mean Beijing is well-placed to intervene in the ongoing conflict and potentially broker peace.
China has so far avoided condemning the full-scale invasion and has instead strengthened its ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Xi recently paying the Russian leader a visit in Moscow.
Beijing has not yet spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, though they did recently publish a peace proposal for the Ukraine war. The paper received a sceptical reception from Western leaders.
GNA