At the talks, Xi denied there was any problem of Chinese overcapacity in global trade and said China and Europe should address differences on trade through “dialogue and consultation, and accommodate each other’s legitimate concerns”, according to the foreign ministry.
France’s cognac industry, based in the southwest of the country, is meanwhile closely watching the talks fearing an anti-dumping investigation opened by China, its second market, is retaliation by Beijing for the trade tensions.
“ONE OF THE GREAT PREDATORS”
Rights groups are urging Macron to bring up human rights in the talks, accusing China of failing to respect the rights of the Uyghur Muslim minority and of keeping dozens of journalists behind bars.
“President Macron should make it clear to Xi Jinping that Beijing’s crimes against humanity come with consequences for China’s relations with France,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch.
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders denounced the visit, installing a truck in central Paris with the names of 119 journalists it says are held by China and describing Xi as “one of the great predators of press freedom”.
Tuesday will see Macron take Xi, who is accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, to the Pyrenees mountains to an area he used to visit as a boy for a day of less public talks.
However analysts are sceptical that Macron will be able to exercise much sway over the Chinese leader, even with the lavish red-carpet welcome and a trip to the bracing mountain air of the Col du Tourmalet over 2,000 metres above sea level on Tuesday.
The other two countries chosen by Xi for his European tour, Serbia and Hungary, are seen as among the most sympathetic to Moscow in Europe.
Both Macron’s messages on trade and Ukraine “are unlikely to have a significant impact on Chinese behaviour,” said Janka Oertel, director of the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
