Bloomberg: Xi courts Macron in bid to drive wedge between Europe, US

Xi Jinping is pulling out all the stops for French President Emmanuel Macron as China’s leader tries to create some distance between Europe and the US in their approaches toward Beijing. 

During the three-day visit, which kicks off on April 5, Macron will have extensive face time with Xi. After formal meetings in Beijing on April 6, which will also include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Macron and Xi will head to the southern city of Guangzhou, according to Bloomberg.

French officials say they have sensed a special warmth from Chinese counterparts ahead of the trip and they say preparations have been smoother and friendlier than previous visits by Macron.

The French president will be accompanied by a delegation of executives from large and small French companies, including from electricity utility Electricite de France SA, train-maker Alstom SA and waste and water management company Veolia Environnement SA, as well as Airbus SE. The European plane-maker is working to secure a multi-billion-dollar sale of wide-body jets to China in a deal that could come together as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News.

"While France was the third largest trading partner with China in the European Union last year after Germany and the Netherlands, two-way trade between the countries fell 4.4% last year to $81 billion and key investors have seen rising competition. Supermarket chain operator Carrefour SA in 2019 sold 80% of its local operations to Chinese rival Suning.com Co., while Stellantis NV, the producer of Peugeot and Citroën cars, is considering stopping manufacturing autos in China after shuttering its only Jeep factory in the nation", the report added.

With former German Chancellor Angela Merkel no longer in power, Xi now sees Macron as someone who can push the European Union toward a more moderate position on China than the US. In addition to having an influential voice among North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, France is also a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council — and Macron in particular has sought to engage with Putin to find a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine. 

With US-China relations in a tailspin, Beijing is looking to prevent Europe from joining in, particularly on measures like export controls of key technologies that would hurt growth in the world’s second-biggest economy. The EU, including Germany and France, are seeking to balance a desire to engage with China on trade and investment while still asserting what they deem core European values, including respect for human rights and territorial sovereignty in places like Ukraine.