Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron meet in Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping met in front of the Great Hall of the People (Parliament) with French President Emmanuel Macron, who arrived in Beijing, transmits Reuters.

Prior to the meeting, Macron tweeted that during the talks, he plans to discuss with Xi Jinping China’s leading role in building peace, as well as climate and food security.

Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in China the day before, April 5. Their visit will last until April 7. Earlier, Macron had already met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. This is Macron’s first visit to China since 2019.

April 5 Chinese Ambassador to the EU Fu Cong named rhetorically, the expression about the “boundless friendship” between Russia and China, enshrined in the declaration signed in February 2022 by Putin and Xi Jinping. The diplomat stressed that Beijing does not support Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, and does not provide military assistance to Russia. At the same time, Fu Cong noted, the PRC government believes that the reasons for the start of the conflict are more complicated than the West is trying to present them.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov in response to this emphasizedthat the entire context of relations between Moscow and Beijing is set out in two documents signed at the end of March following a three-day trip by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia.

On April 4, Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU was concerned about China’s “friendly position” towards the Russian Federation, and called on Beijing to “constructively influence” Moscow. In response to the Chinese Foreign Ministry notedthat they are ready to discuss with the EU a political settlement of the situation in Ukraine.