What is Macron looking for in Beijing?
Mohsen Shariatinia
Chinese affairs expert
French President Emmanuel Macron is heading to Beijing to meet his Chinese counterpart. At the same time, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is to join him for a trilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping. The Spanish prime minister and German chancellor are among the high-ranking officials of the European Union who have also traveled to the Asian country in the past months.
These official trips show that China has always been of significance to the EU, the Asian country’s first trading partner. In 2022, China was the third-largest exporter to the union and the largest importer of European goods.
Taking their long-standing and extensive relations into account reveals that the recent exchange of visits between European and Chinese officials has been a regular occurrence — although the trips were halted for a while due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and is therefore, not unusual for the two sides.
Needless to say, the intensification of US-China competition and the war in Ukraine have complicated the relations between the EU and China. However, the Europeans and Chinese have always tried to ensure that their bilateral relations are not overshadowed by the Washington-Beijing competition and the likely pressures of the United States.
Apart from the bilateral talks on trade between China and the EU as well as China and France, what makes Macron’s visit to Beijing important includes the situation of the war in Ukraine and Beijing’s influence on the outcome of the war. China has the capacity to help the two warring sides reach a solution to the war. However, it is still not imaginable that Beijing would be able to establish peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Therefore, what is important for Macron and the EU is that China would not side with Russia in the Ukraine war and would pay attention to the positions and interests of the Europeans as well. It seems that Macron will try to prevent Beijing from completely siding with Russia during his talks with Xi Jinping. Macron hopes to ensure that China maintains its current distance from Russia.
So far, China has adopted a cautious policy towards the war in Ukraine and has not entered the war militarily. This is important for Europe because China’s military intervention could change the situation of the war and double the concerns of Europeans. Therefore, Macron will attempt to persuade Beijing to take the same cautious positions and maintain its distance from Russia.