Chinese President Xi Jinping gave French President Emmanuel Macron an unusually warm and rare welcome on Friday personally escorting him to the southwestern city of Chengdu. It’s a level of access Beijing typically reserves for only a few world leaders a sign of how important France has become in China’s strategy toward the European Union.
The gesture stands out. Even during Donald Trump’s headline making visit to China in 2017 Xi kept the U.S president confined to Beijing. But while the optics of the Xi-Macron partnership have been strong analysts say the visit has delivered far more symbolism than substance. With global investors watching closely and European leaders seeking economic clarity amid Trump’s tariffs Macron’s trip has so far produced limited results.
The French president began the day jogging alongside locals in Chengdu’s Jincheng Lake Park before joining Xi at the historic Dujiangyan irrigation project. The big question hanging over the visit is whether it will lead to any easing of EU-China trade tensions. So far the answer appears to be no. Meetings in Beijing produced just a dozen cooperation agreements on issues like nuclear energy aging populations and panda conservation but no major commercial deals and no financial commitments.
Experts say France likely expected more especially as Europe develops a new “economic security” approach aimed at reducing strategic vulnerabilities. Paris may have hoped China would offer concessions but Beijing held firm.
Still Macron used the spotlight to project global leadership at a time when he’s faced political turbulence at home. At Sichuan University he received a rock star welcome from students before delivering a speech urging China to consider its role in a world he described as entering a period of profound fracture.
Macron warned that the post-World War II order built on cooperation and multilateralism is beginning to split apart. And he pushed back on Beijing’s narrative that Western influence is fading.
“Some will say Europe is old or that the G7 is arrogant” he said. “But that’s just a narrative a fabrication.”
While the visit didn’t deliver big deals it provided Macron a high profile stage and showcased China’s focus on France as it navigates an uncertain global landscape.
