Both leaders want to show a united EU front in relations with Beijing. Pressure is expected to convince the Chinese president to intervene to stop the Ukrainian conflict. Paris is interested in new contracts with the Chinese. The President of the European Commission maintains a tougher stance towards China.
Beijing () – Peace in Ukraine and the delicate dossier of trade relations between the European Union and China. These are the two main issues that Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen will put on the table during their visit to China from today until April 7.
Political relations between China and Europe have become more adversarial since the investment pact between the two sides was cut short in 2021 and in light of China’s considerable support for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The French Head of State invited the President of the European Commission to a joint mission as a sign of European unity. In November, Paris had criticized Olaf Scholz for his solo foray into Beijing: according to the German chancellor, it was an attempt to overcome rising tensions between the Chinese government and Europe; according to critics, the typical game of Berlin to protect the great industrial interests of Germany in China.
Macron and von der Leyen will tell Xi to use his influence on Putin to stop the conflict in Ukraine. The two European leaders will ask the Chinese president to at least avoid openly supporting Moscow (translated: that Beijing stop sending arms to the Russians).
China recently put forward a vague “peace proposal.” The United States and Europe rejected it, since it does not condemn Russian aggression and does not clearly demand the withdrawal of Moscow’s forces from Ukrainian territory.
However, Macron will take advantage of the occasion to obtain advantageous commercial contracts. More than 50 executives from French companies are traveling with him, including Airbus, which is willing to close a major order for the sale of aircraft to the Chinese.
However, the French president will have to move with caution: an excessive attitude towards Beijing could irritate the United States and the EU countries -especially those of Eastern Europe-, increasingly upset by the ties of the Chinese giant with the Kremlin and for its pressure on Taiwan.
Xi has long sought to “separate” Europe from Washington, and sees Macron as the most appropriate interlocutor. With a certain generality, the head of the Elysée has spoken several times about the need for Europe to acquire its own “strategic autonomy” (with respect to the United States).
On March 30, in a harsh speech, von der Leyen stated that the evolution of relations between China and Putin will be the “determining factor” for the future of Sino-European relations. German policy reiterated that Europe must reduce the risk of dependence on China in key sectors such as strategic minerals, batteries and solar panels. In clear line with Washington, he stressed that the EU must also limit Beijing’s access to advanced technologies.
The EU Commission is expected to present a new economic security strategy in June that plans to block investment by European companies in sensitive sectors of the Chinese economy. On March 28, the EU institutions also agreed on the principles of an “anti-coercion” instrument to be used against bullying commercial actions such as those taken by China against Lithuania from 2021.
At the EU level, there are already directives to protect the European market for dumping trade (sale at low cost) by China and government subsidies for exports to Chinese companies, as well as a mechanism to filter investments from other countries in strategic sectors of member states.
