Xi Jinping arrived in Paris. The topic of negotiations will be the war in Ukraine

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Paris on Sunday for a state visit. This is the first trip by a Chinese leader to the EU in five years. In addition to France, he will also visit Hungary and non-EU Serbia.

Officially, the visit is timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and China. Xi Jinping was met at the airport by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. Negotiations between the Chinese leader and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to take place in Paris on Monday, and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will also take part in them. On Tuesday, Macron and Xi will travel to the Pyrenees, the homeland of the French president’s grandmother, where talks will continue.

France Presse notes that the Chinese leader, apparently, did not accidentally choose France as the only major EU country he will visit during his visit. Relations between Beijing and Paris are warmer compared to, for example, Sino-German relations. Macron visited Beijing last year.

The French President, in a recent interview with The Economist, noted that China’s role is extremely important in maintaining a stable world order, and it is necessary to cooperate with Beijing to maintain peace. Macron, among other things, warned against viewing China as an enemy and representative of a rival bloc. At the same time, many representatives of the EU and the US have expressed concern about the warm relations between Beijing and Moscow and, in particular, the possibility that China could directly support Russia in the war with Ukraine, for example by supplying arms.

It is expected that the war in Ukraine will become one of the topics of negotiations between Macron and Xi Jinping. Another topic is disputes between China and the EU related to international trade. Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch called Macron will raise the issue of the human rights situation in China at the talks, in particular the persecution of independent journalists and repression of the Uyghur minority.

After returning from a trip to Europe, Xi Jinping will host Russian President Vladimir Putin in China, who will travel there in mid-May, shortly after his inauguration.