Macron – who is traveling with an impressive delegation of roughly 50 business leaders – will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other top officials on Thursday, before a separate meeting with Xi and von der Leyen later that day, according to an Elysee source.
The three-day visit comes amid urgency in Europe to find a path to peace in Russia’s devastating war in Ukraine, and as European leaders grapple with how to navigate their relationship with Beijing – a top EU trade partner whose close ties with Moscow and aggressive foreign policy have created increasing concern, reports The BBC.
An Elysee source on Friday described Beijing as potentially one of the only countries able to have a “game changer effect” on the war, given its ties with Russia – and said a key aim of the visit was ultimately finding „a way to identify solutions” to end the war. Macron has been planning this visit for some time and has been open about doing so. Both Macron and von der Leyen spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in recent days, with von der Leyen pledging after that Ukraine would be an „important topic” of meetings. The Chinese leader, however, has not spoken with Zelensky since the war began.
Beijing has claimed neutrality in the conflict, but has not condemned Russia’s invasion and instead bolstered its economic and diplomatic ties with Moscow over the past year.
The trip comes less than a month after Xi made a three-day state visit to Moscow, where he and Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed their countries’ alignment on a host of issues (parallels between Ukraine and Taiwan abound) – which means that Europe has every reason to tread carefully and diplomatically.
Past efforts from European leaders to better align with China against the conflict have also seen lukewarm results, notes The BBC. Xi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz jointly condemned the threat or use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine during Scholz’s November visit to Beijing – a move analysts saw more as a statement already in line with Chinese policy than a diplomatic win for Germany.
At the same time, Macron will be joined on the trip by the heads of some of France’s biggest companies, including aircraft manufacturer Airbus (EADSF), BNP Paribas, and L’Oreal, with some expected to finalize or even sign new deals during the trip – which means that the trip is also a pragmatic business meeting.
Von der Leyen is not traveling with a business delegation, but will meet the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, according to a person familiar with her visit.
