By Huang Jingjing, Chu Chu, Li Zhuoman and Liu Haozhe
At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron is paying a state visit to China from December 3 to 5. It’s Macron’s fourth state visit to China and a reciprocal visit to Xi’s historic state visit to France last year that marked the 60th anniversary of China-France diplomatic relations.
During Xi’s visit to France in May 2024, the two heads of state reached a number of consensuses on further developing bilateral relations and agreed to consolidate the strategic stability of bilateral ties.
In Paris, Xi was warmly received by Macron. They had talks and jointly met the press at the Elysée Palace. Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron also hosted Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan at a mountain restaurant at Col du Tourmalet in Hautes-Pyrenees Department of France. Together, they watched a traditional folk dance by local villagers and took a group photo with the performers.
In April 2023, Macron paid his third state visit to China. During the visit, the two heads of state had friendly, in-depth and quality exchanges of views in Beijing and Guangzhou and reached a number of strategic common understandings. Together, they charted the course and drew the blueprint for China-France cooperation at the bilateral, China-EU and global levels.
In November 2019, Macron paid a second state visit to China in conjunction with attending the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) held in Shanghai, during which the two sides jointly issued an action plan for China-France relations and the Beijing Call for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change.
On the evening of November 5, 2019, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron at the Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai. In the traditional Chinese-style garden, the two couples walked, enjoyed the garden scenery, and watched performances of Kunqu Opera and Yueju Opera.
Xi and Macron have maintained close exchanges. After Macron’s first state visit to China in 2018, Xi paid a state visit to France in March 2019, opening a new chapter in China-France relations. During the visit, the two heads of state agreed to inherit the past and usher in the future to forge a more solid, stable and vigorous China-France comprehensive strategic partnership at a new historical starting point, and the two sides also issued a “Joint Statement on Jointly Safeguard Multilateralism, Improve Global Governance.”
In January 2018, Macron paid a state visit to China for the first time. He had in-depth talks with Xi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. The two heads of state reached important consensus on pushing forward the close and ever-lasting China-France comprehensive strategic partnership for stable and long-term development. (PD/GSF)
