Europe live: China’s Xi Jinping greeted by Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace in Paris | World news

Lisa O’Carroll

The Chinese president used his opening remarks during his visit to China to call for closer ties with the EU.

Xi Jinping said Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen that as “two important powers in the world, we should both stick to the position of partnership, stick to dialogue and cooperation.”

He said both countries should “carry out strategic cooperation” and promote “stable and healthy development, contribute to world peace and development.”

Speaking in Paris, Ursula von der Leyen I thanked Emmanuel Macron to convene the meeting.

“I’m glad to see you again,” von der Leyen said Xi Jinping.

“The European Union and China we want good relations, and given China’s global weight, our commitment is key to ensuring mutual respect, avoiding misunderstandings and finding solutions to global challenges,” said the commission chairman.

“Both China and the European Union have a shared interest in peace and security and the effective functioning of a rules-based international order,” she said, adding that “we are determined to stop Russian aggression against Ukraine.”

Xi Jinping arrived at the Elysée Palace.

Lisa O’Carroll

Raphael Glucksmanmember of the European Parliament and leading socialist candidate in France in the upcoming European elections, called Emmanuel Macron to be “tough” against China and “not silent in the face of crimes” against the Uyghurs.

In an an interview with France Inter radio on Monday morning, he said it was wrong to roll out the red carpet the way Macron is doing for the Chinese president.

“You can accept it, you can talk to anyone, but not like this. Not by taking him to his childhood holiday village, to his grandfather’s house, not, as Elise puts it, by creating a friendly atmosphere on this visit, because Xi Jinping is not our friend. In addition to deporting the Uyghur people, oppressing Tibetans and Hong Kongers, oppressing opponents and threatening the Taiwanese.”

Glucksman also argued that China is killing French green technology, putting solar panel companies out of business with their cut-price alternatives.

“We had solar panel champions in France and Europe. How many companies make solar panels in France today? Only one left.

He added: “What I want for us is to stop being brazen,” he said, noting that when Canada sees distortions in trade with the Chinese, it imposes tariffs of more than 200 percent. “In Europe they take 15%. This is not a deterrent.

As a Chinese leader, Xi Jinpingbegins its visit to France, Reporters Without Borders protested in Paris over the imprisonment of journalists in China.

Lisa O’Carroll

Before your visit to France, Xi Jinping wrote:

One thing that has made China’s development possible is our firm commitment to opening up. We welcome more quality French agricultural products and cosmetics to the Chinese market to meet the ever-increasing needs of the Chinese people for a better life. We welcome the investment of companies from France and other countries in China.

To this end, we have fully opened up China’s manufacturing sector and will move faster to expand market access to telecommunications, medical and other services. We also have a 15-day visa-free policy for visitors from many countries, including France, and have taken additional measures to make it easier for foreigners to travel and pay in China.

As it opens up, China is also encouraging Chinese companies to go global. France is advancing reindustrialization based on environmental innovation, while China is accelerating the development of new quality manufacturing forces.

Our two countries can deepen cooperation in innovation and jointly promote green development. Some Chinese companies have set up battery plants in France. The Chinese government supports more Chinese companies to invest in France. And we hope that France will ensure that they operate in a fair and just business environment.

What to expect today

Lisa O’Carroll

Chinese President Xi JinpingMr. Donald Trump in the White House and the ongoing war in Russia.

Vladimir Putin visits Beijing in two weeks and Emmanuel Macron will implore Xi to use his influence in the Kremlin.

On Sunday, Macron said the Tribune newspaper in Paris that he did not want to “move away from China”, indicating efforts to avert a trade war involving potential tariffs on Chinese electric car sales in the EU and retaliatory threats of taxes on food and drink imports from EU that could affect France Cognac.

Here is the agenda for today:

10:30: Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen meet

11:05: Trilateral with Macron, von der Leyen and Xi

15:00: Welcoming ceremony at the Home of the Disabled

16.05: Bilateral between Macron and Xi

17.00: Meeting of Chinese and French delegations

17.45: Press conference

18.20: Closing speeches by Macron and Xi

19.00: State dinner at the Elysée Palace

20.15: Si, Macron arrive with their wives for a photo

Ahead of Xi’s visit to Paris, Human Rights Watch called on the French president, Emmanuel Macronto “firmly stand up for our rights in China”.

“President Macron needs to make it clear 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.

“France’s silence and inaction on human rights would only encourage the Chinese government’s sense of impunity for its abuses, further fueling repression at home and abroad,” she said.

Human Rights Watch added:

Respect for human rights has seriously deteriorated under Xi Jinping. His government has committed crimes against humanity – including mass detention, forced labor and cultural persecution – against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, enacted draconian legislation that eroded Hong Kong’s freedoms, and stepped up repression of government critics across the country.

Xi Jinping arrives in France with a trade dispute over Ukraine and the EU high on the agenda

Lisa O’Carroll

Xi Jinping praised China’s ties with France as a model for the international community as he arrived in Paris amid threats of a trade war over Chinese electric cars and French cognac.

In his first visit to the EU in five years, the Chinese president will meet his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macronand the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenwho will urge him to reduce trade imbalances and use his influence with Russia for the war in Ukraine.

Ahead of the visit, Macron told French newspaper La Tribune that an update on relations was needed “because China it now has excess capacity in many areas and is exporting massively to Europe”.

In September 2023, the EU launched an investigation into whether to impose punitive duties to protect EU manufacturers against cheaper imports of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), which it says benefit from government subsidies.

Macron will try to dissuade Xi from retaliating against the EV investigation, potentially with import tariffs on French cognac and agricultural goods.

The EU is also expected to raise suspicions that sanctions on exports for Russia are surrounded by Chinese companies trading with the neighbor.

Xi said in a statement released upon his arrival that ties between China and France were “a model for the international community of peaceful coexistence and profitable cooperation between countries with different social systems”.

Read the full story.

Good morning and welcome back to the European blog.

Today we will look at Xi Jinping’s visit to France and China’s relations with Europe.

Send comments and advice to lili.bayer@theguardian.com.