Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Paris on May 5. His French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, is set to press him to settle trade issues and try to persuade him to use his influence with Russia over its war against Ukraine.
Xi Jinping is going to France
Reuters writes that none of Macron's goals will be easily achieved during Xi's two-day visit to France.
It is reported that France seeks to encourage China to put pressure on Moscow to end the war against Ukraine.
Aside from Xi Jinping's decision to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time shortly after Macron visited Beijing last year, little progress has been made.
China being one of Russia's main partners, our objective is to use the leverages it has on Moscow to change Russia's calculations and help contribute to solving the conflict, an adviser from the French President's Office told Reuters.
A French diplomatic source said: "If the Chinese want to deepen relations with their European partners, they must hear our point of view and start taking it seriously."
Xi's visit to Europe
As previously reported, Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit France, Serbia, and Hungary from May 5 to 10. This is his first visit to Europe in five years.
During the visit, Xi will meet with the three countries' leaders.
Xi's visit to Serbia is expected to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
In 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, American missiles killed three Chinese journalists. The White House later called the hit a mistake and chalked it to faulty cards. This sparked anti-US protests in China and helped sow Beijing's distrust of NATO.
As Bloomberg reported, Beijing is trying to improve relations with Europe, as Brussels has become more assertive in responding to China's trade policy.
