Chinese leader Xi Jinping kicked off his trip to France Tuesday with a selection of Beaujolais wine, saucisson and cheese shortly after arriving in Lyon, the country’s gastronomic capital.
Xi headed to Lyon’s stately town hall soon after landing Tuesday evening for a lavish three-course meal accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, a famous singer who wore a black and grey traditional Chinese dress and a black shawl wrapped around her shoulders.
Watch: Chinese President Xi Jinping greeted at Lyon's town hall
The couple are in France for a three-day visit marking 50 years of full diplomatic ties between the two countries that is due to be dominated by the signing of several big business contracts.
They chose to kick off the visit with a whistle-stop, 16-hour tour of Lyon, a former silk centre that forged links with China from the 16th century that have endured until now.