French President Emmanuel Macron touched down in Beijing with a clear mission: keep trade flowing, cool geopolitical tensions. Sitting with Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People on Thursday, Macron opened with a line that summed up the state of the relationship.
“Sometimes there are differences, but it is our responsibility to overcome them for the greater good,” he said. “Our capacity to work together is decisive.”
Ukraine dominated the room, even if no breakthrough was announced.
The timing was no accident. Macron arrived just hours after meeting Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris, as US-backed ceasefire talks quietly grind on.
“What we want is that China can convince and influence Russia to move toward a ceasefire as quickly as possible,” a French diplomatic official told AP, urging Beijing to “refrain from providing Russia with any means whatsoever to continue the war.”
Xi’s reply was measured. He called for making the China–France relationship “more stable”, adding China was ready to work with France “to exclude any interference”. What kind of interference was left unsaid. Still, Taiwan, and Beijing’s expectation that Paris reaffirms the One China policy, hangs in the background.
Economics provided friendlier terrain. Europe wants fairer trade and smaller deficits; China wants diplomatic wins amid US tariffs. Macron argued both countries “have a role to play in laying out, with other partners, the foundations for rebalanced economic governance,” proposing stronger rules rather than global survival-of-the-fittest economics.
Twelve cooperation agreements followed, spanning nuclear energy, investment, ageing populations, and even panda conservation. On Friday, Xi and Macron head to Sichuan, where France’s loaned giant pandas were recently sent home. A soft diplomatic touch after a hard strategic conversation.
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