French President Emmanuel Macron is on a three-day visit to China, the main topics of his agenda are the war in Ukraine and relations with the EU. – Beijing (which, according to the opinion prevailing in Paris and Berlin, should not be broken, despite the Chinese-American shadow) and ensuring French overseas interests in the Asia-Pacific region.

Starting today and over the next two days, the French leader will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing before leaving for Guangzhou in southern China on Friday.

It is worth noting that Macron is accompanied on this trip – his first trip to China since 2019 – by about 60 French businessmen (who will include, among others, the CEOs of Airbus, LVMH and EDF), and on the same days the President of Germany Representative of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will also be in Beijing.

In fact, von der Leyen went to Paris yesterday to prepare her visit to China in consultation with the French President. It is noted that for the president of the European Commission, this will be the first visit to China as head of the commission.

The war in Ukraine and Beijing’s position on the Russian invasion are expected to be the main topics of talks between Macron and von der Leyen in the Chinese capital this week.

Macron, according to Reuters, said today from Beijing that China should not send weapons to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine and that Beijing has no interest in keeping this war going.

Before the visit to China, both the head of the commission and the French president made it clear that they would by no means want Beijing to support Russia militarily on the Ukrainian front. However, at the same time, Paris, Berlin and Brussels do not want a break with the Chinese side.

According to the French News Agency (AFP), Macron will be asked to perform delicate balance exercises during his visit to China.

On the other hand, according to Politico, the French president will attempt a “charm attack” on the Chinese leadership, which he will try to distance himself from Moscow.

Emmanuel Macron wants to protect France’s interests in the Asia-Pacific region while maintaining channels of communication with the Chinese side.

Ideally, the French president would like to be able to persuade Xi Jinping to influence Moscow’s side for peace on the Ukrainian front. It is recalled, however, that last year Macron tried to influence Vladimir Putin himself in the direction of avoiding an escalation of the war, but his efforts were unsuccessful.

According to AFP, Politico, Reuters