French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China was a success, but more could have been achieved, experts say
- Paris and Beijing agree dozens of commercial deals worth US$15 billion but skirt thorny issues such as trade liberalisation and aid to Chinese state-owned companies
- Chairman of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China says visit showed European unity
French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China succeeded in presenting the world with a united Europe but fell short of securing major trade promises from his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, analysts said.
On Macron’s second presidential trip to China, he joined Xi in deploring US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the climate agreement led by France in 2015.
Analysts said China was ready to work with Europe on non-sensitive matters such as climate change – a big issue with European voters – but was lukewarm in offering concrete commitments to thornier issues such as liberalisation of trade, curbing financial aid for state-owned enterprises, and cybersecurity.
“I think this trip was as much a ‘win-win’ as it could be – China wanted to show it has friends in the West, and France wanted to play a role at the EU level,” said Philippe Le Corre, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who specialises in China-EU relations.
China is France’s seventh biggest customer but its second-biggest supplier, according to the French foreign ministry. In addition, France’s largest bilateral trade deficit is with China, totalling €29.2 billion (US$32.3 billion) last year.