president macron china visit

• Culture, Language & Education
• Higher Education, Research & Innovation
• Consulate in Edinburgh
• Consulate in London

French Embassy in London

Home > Newsroom > Latest News > President Macron pays State visit to China

• Réduire la police du site
• Agrandir la police du site

President Macron pays State visit to China

China – state visit to china: first day in beijing – communiqué issued by the presidency of the republic, china – speech by m. emmanuel macron, president of the republic, to the french community in china, china – joint statement by the french republic and the people’s republic of china, china – statements by m. emmanuel macron, president of the republic, to students at sun yat-sen university in guangdong, china – taiwan – replies by m. emmanuel macron, president of the republic, to questions at his joint press conference with mr mark rutte, prime minister of the netherlands (excerpts).

Paris, 5 April 2023

From 5 to 8 April 2023, the French President is visiting China. He spent the first day of his State visit in Beijing.

President Emmanuel Macron was keen to begin by speaking to the French community. He paid tribute firstly to medical and healthcare staff, as well as French school managers and teachers, for their sense of duty during the pandemic.

During his speech, the Head of State then set out the goals of his visit:

To involve China in shared responsibility for peace and stability;

To strengthen the Franco-Chinese trade relationship;

To recommit to a common framework of action on major international issues such as the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity.

Finally, President Macron recalled the importance of revitalizing cultural links between France and China in 2023 in order to prepare for 2024, which will be the year of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the year of Franco-Chinese cultural tourism and the 60th anniversary year of diplomatic relations between France and China.

Watch his speech to the French community in Beijing:

President Macron subsequently attended the opening of the 17th Croisements Festival at Beijing’s Red Brick Art Museum.

This Franco-Chinese festival remains the biggest foreign festival in China, with 15 million visitors since its creation. For its inauguration, among other things President Macron presented the programme for this impressive event. He went on to announce three new programmes to be launched in 2023 to support the resumption of creative exchanges between France and China:

• A residency exchange programme for French artists in China and Chinese artists in France

• A programme to support contemporary dance;

• Investment in arts professions and the exchange of know-how between France and China.

Finally, President Macron set out the various forms of cooperation which give the cultural link between China and France its strength: literature, cinema, music and digital creation.

Beijing, 5 April 2023

Members of Parliament,

Ambassador, thank you for your hospitality,

Representatives of French nationals abroad,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Compatriots,

Thank you, Prime Minister, for accompanying us, although one might say we are accompanying you, if you will.

I am very pleased to see you again three years, just over three years after the previous visit right here, in November 2019. Several people here were already with me then.

And I know these three years were particularly difficult. I would like to start with a few words for you, for all the teams, and to express France’s recognition and support. I know the dedication our Embassy showed, like our Consulates General, the local coordinators and our contacts in associations and in educational and medical matters – and last but not least, our local elected representatives.

I realize that expatriation, in these difficult times of the pandemic, led to difficulties and sometimes even suffering for you and your families. So allow me to particularly commend the devotion of the medical and care teams, here at the Embassy, and the sense of duty shown by the management of French schools and by teachers, and the spirit of resilience of families and of course pupils that got them through this crisis.

The whole French community in China has shown remarkable courage. In Shanghai, our citizens went through a particularly strict and long period of confinement, and especially last spring, but it was also true in Wuhan, Chengcheng, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Chengdu, Shenyang and many other places. The solidarity that you showed during this period has left us full of admiration, and I am keen to thank all those who went through this particularly difficult period while demonstrating the sense of responsibility, making so many sacrifices to remain.

A little over 22,000 of you are now exploring this relationship and “the other pole of the human experiment”, as Simon Leys put it, split equally between continental China and Hong Kong. The community is not as large as it was before the pandemic, but it is tight-knit and continues, I know, to support many projects. I am counting on you to support all those who, in the coming months and years, will come to continue building this relationship.

These are, as we know, challenging times. But we have undeniable strengths here and the will to give new impetus to a strategic and comprehensive partnership with China. I wanted to start with these words for you because I know how difficult these years have been, and I would not have the opportunity, if you will, to talk about the future if you had not held on through this period. The strength of this relationship is the men and women who forge it, including students, artists, scientists, researchers, businesspeople, entrepreneurs and politicians. And it will be up to us to write the next chapters of this bilateral relationship in particularly difficult times.

I also wanted to touch on this visit and on our goals. I wish to seize the opportunity of this first speech to share, if you will, the major thrusts of our goals. We are increasingly hearing major concerns about the future of relations between the West and China, and conclusions, if you will, on a sort of unstoppable chain of growing tensions. If we were only to read the comments where, ultimately, if you will, everything has already been said, there would be no choice: the decoupling would be underway, and the only question would be its pace and its intensity. There would be nothing to do but watch it happen. I do not believe, and I do not want to believe, in that scenario.

It is of course absolutely obvious that we do not share China’s political system, and there is indeed a rivalry, that we are not ashamed of, with the European Union. But we also know that there are major international subjects on which we need to engage, and we have rather particular human relations. Ultimately, this singular page that France has begun to write with China started centuries ago, but it has been reaffirmed and the history of the last decades leaves us a duty.

This page of more contemporary history, begun in 1964 with General de Gaulle, on the basis that the international situation had become more unstable, must not, if you will, be rejected. And it is not, to cite the latter, when the weight of evidence and reason has grown, that we must pull back, turn inwards and accept, if you will, bloc geopolitics. I can already hear the comments. This does not mean that there is a form of equidistance, or a system of equivalence, between the blocs, but this is simply a matter of clear-sightedness where we must look at what we have to do in this conversation, if you will, with the rest of the world.

China holds a special place for us, thanks to our intellectual, artistic, scientific, industrial and geopolitical history, and thanks also to what China represents today. China now produces as much wealth each year as all the European Union’s Member States put together. It is the leading trading partner of more than 60 countries worldwide, the leading consumer of coal, the leading creditor of the most vulnerable countries, and one of the leading military powers.

This accumulation of leading roles has clearly transformed this country. And many of you, who have a historic presence, have seen it change resolutely, including in its self-perception, over the last 15 or 20 years.

China’s leaders are now fully at ease with this new power balance, and their relationship with the economy, a form of hegemony, and its international balances, and with power, is no longer the same. But it is precisely in this period that this contemporary dialogue that we have forged, precisely on the basis of centuries of history, is meaningful.

Since the beginning of my first term and my visits in 2018 and 2019, I noted this engagement, without the slightest naivety and with much humility, and the role our country can play. That of fostering this singular relationship, of being a voice that unites Europe, as we have done since 2019 when, during the Chinese President’s state visit, we invited Federal Chancellor Merkel and President Juncker to the table, with the aim, if you will, of consolidating China-Europe dialogue and defending universal values, that are the very core of our identity, in a respectful dialogue.

In coming to Beijing with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, I aim to highlight the coherence of this approach and set it, if you will, in this course we have chosen.

So, what are the parameters of this relationship, and what can we expect? I will start with the political and strategic aspect, that, of course, of the war in Ukraine and what we can hope to achieve with China. Russia’s war in Ukraine has deeply affected the international order that we have known since 1945, and this war, that I have several times described as imperialist and colonial, has trampled many of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations that the permanent Security Council members that we are must defend resolutely.

And so China, on the strength precisely of its close relationship with Russia, which was reaffirmed in recent days, can play a major role. The challenge we face is, if you will, not to push blocs against one another and, if you will, not to write history in advance, considering that this war is a replay of strategic movements that have already been written. I believe the contrary. China has shouldered responsibility when it comes to the nuclear issue. We, too, can commit, and that will also be crucial in what is happening today, of course, in the context of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, and also in the choices that have been made concerning Belarus and civil nuclear power.

China has reaffirmed its commitment to the Charter of the United Nations, of which the territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations are part. And I believe that defending them means working together and seeking to find a path to peace. China, precisely, has proposed a peace plan, which we commended. Do we agree with everything in it? No. But it is worthy of interest and it shows the will to get involved in resolving the conflict. And so, while it is not a peace plan, it is a will to shoulder responsibility and seek to build a path to peace and, I hope, to take part in initiatives of use to the Ukrainian people.

I think this dialogue with China is essential, because we, the Europeans of the European Union, would be wrong to leave a monopoly on dialogue with China to other continental Europeans, meaning the Russians, and to consider that it would be the only one, if you will, to give its reading of events and how they play out, and propose strategic options. It is important to speak directly to China about this conflict, this Russian war of aggression, and what is at stake, the consequences – consequences for our Europe, and consequences for the Middle East, the African continent, and many other regions. And we must seek to engage them in a strategic relationship that is perhaps more complex than that some think is already written.

That is what I will discuss with the President, tomorrow and the day after. We need to seek to build this shared responsibility, if you will, for global peace and stability, and engage with China, and thus, through this conflict and also regarding the issues of Iran and North Korea. I believe that is our responsibility.

Then, and for me this is the second purpose of this visit, we will also need to discuss the parameters of our commercial relationship. I would like to thank the economic delegation here today. We will hold the council that we created in 2018, the France-China Business Council, which is extremely important and will meet for the first time since the pandemic. Several major contracts will be signed by several of you in all the fields represented here, which you represent on the ground, concerning aviation, major transport companies, tech, decarbonized energy, agribusiness, luxury goods, cosmetics, automobile production and many other sectors, in which we have a presence thanks to our major groups, our SMEs, our intermediate-sized enterprises and our start-ups. And our 2,000 companies, many of which have been here for a long time, are a strength that we want to further strengthen.

We also have agendas for agribusiness, which we have been working on since 2018, as well as other fields that we will consolidate. And I would like to thank the representatives here of this dynamic, innovative and proactive community: the France-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Foreign Trade Advisers, the French Tech communities and the France-China Committee, who play a very important structuring role. All of you help build this relationship and enable us to move forward.

However, clear-sighted reflection has shown me that the relationship is currently not completely balanced. And that when we talk of trade relations we must try to re-engage efforts so that the market continues to open up and that when we concede certain openings, they should be accompanied by symmetrical or at least comparable gestures. And I believe that in this strategic context of tension that I mentioned, when I read about the increasing desire to decouple the major economic blocks, the path we have promoted in recent years – with, I believe, a great deal of friendship, frankness and a spirit of responsibility – is a path that I would not describe as being middle-of-the-road, but realistic and ambitious that should be followed. We have never been naive about China, its government or its companies.

Five years ago, when I arrived, I explained that certain telecommunications components were a subject of national security. And China could actually understand that quite well as it was doing the same thing when it came to its economy. But when you say it respectfully, first one-on-one before proclaiming it, when you do not have public televised debates confronting one another about it and are respectful, I believe that you are understood. And we have been one of the most rigorous countries, who acted the earliest, regarding telecommunications, while obtaining openings in the agrifood sector. I believe that it is this path we must continue to take: one of ambitious standards. Therefore, we must not be naive.

That is what our European Union – and I welcome this, taking this approach of European sovereignty that I defended five years ago – has built, trade defence instruments that are needed for our credibility. But it must also proactively engage in order to continue to have a commercial relationship with China. Therefore, we have to de-risk our economies, if you will, without ever being completely dependent. And as a matter of fact, this is what China wants for itself, when it looks at Europe or the United States. But, we must not decouple and separate ourselves with an approach that would portray over the long term that we no longer intend to do anything together, which I believe would be a disastrous error.

Credibility, defence of our interests, but engagement in major common economic projects, in the opening of the agrifood sector as well as consolidation of all major markets you defend and where considerable market share for your groups or your companies are represented here in China, with greater reciprocity of our trade. I believe this approach is demanding, ambitious and clear-sighted, and I want to defend it here today. However, there is a path forward because, as we can see, we can also get stuck in a bloc-to-bloc approach which would mean that we, Europeans – if we want this path to be possible – must move much further down the path to our strategic autonomy, and therefore have a Europe that must accept and stand by the fact that when it makes choices, it does not depend on the extra-territoriality of choices made by others and it can take its own path.

The third objective is to re-engage in a common framework for action on the major international issues. In 2019, we engaged and – I read many sceptical comments at the time about the issue of biodiversity with China – preparing the coming COPs. What we consolidated in 2019 has produced effects: the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP), a few months ago in Montreal, and negotiations on the high seas, called BBNJ, where we achieved positive outcomes from this joint diplomatic work we did. And I think that it is possible to work together and that it is even a requirement for our international action to be credible. Because when you are speaking to such a powerful economy, which is, as I have said, the leading consumer of coal, which has said that it would reach its peak in 2030, and which, I believe, can do much better, and which thereby determines the global emissions of the years ahead, when you are speaking to a major power in terms of biodiversity, when you are speaking to a major power in terms of artificial intelligence or quantum or digital technology, the regulation of these common goods is determined by partnership-based work with China. And therefore, from tackling climate change and its effects and to biodiversity protection, we have achieved positive outcomes.

I want us to continue to work on them. France will hold a Conference on Oceans in Nice in 2025 and I hope to fully involve China. In these food security efforts, we must also work together. And in June, we will hold a very important summit to rebuild the new global financial pact and fairly define the financial terms of international solidarity, whether it concerns debt issue or mobilization of the World Bank and IMF, to address both inequalities and consequences of climate change. We need China’s involvement on this issue. And that is what I will try to do here – build – and what I will try to convince Chinese leaders to do.

As you see, the relationship is not simply bilateral. It is also being built at EU level, as I was saying. That is a crucial reason the President of the Commission is coming. But the relationship is also built on these major international issues.

And we will have an opportunity during this visit, right after this meeting, together with artists and our leaders of cultural institutes, to have just as an important meeting regarding culture; and then the day after tomorrow in Guangzhou, which is an important economic and cultural hub of China, to build this outreach policy, this cultural policy and share experiences. I believe that it is a key component of our relationship, the strength of people-to-people ties. Many of you perpetuate them and are inspired by this mutual fascination – and I believe this is still true – between China and France.

The relationship has undergone many transformations, but these people-to-people ties that feed off culture, design, science and trade are enduring ties between two longstanding countries that appreciate audacity. A constant connection with universality and for which there is dialogue, if you will, that should not be broken off – quite the opposite. And therefore, I will be pleased later to continue down this path, of these shared experiences, and in Guangzhou, to pursue this work and this deeply personal relationship between the Chinese and French people.

These shared experiences inspired the name of the festival that I will have the pleasure of inaugurating this evening and that for 20 years has celebrated the vitality of French culture in China and the same inspiration of our artists. I hope that this path continues to be followed. And China’s recent decisions to allow Chinese people to visit France again and to resume the issuance of visas to tourists is absolutely essential. Our cultural institutions are aware of this, our gastronomy is waiting for this and our artists want this.

It is especially essential as in 2023 we have to develop the vitality of these ties, because we are preparing for 2024 with great force. For 2024 is the year France is hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It will also be the year of French-Chinese cultural tourism and the year of the 60th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. 2024 will be an extremely important time in this relationship and I hope that our Chinese friends will increasingly wish to visit and experience our country, our landscapes, our culture, and our gastronomy that are waiting for them.

And at the start of this visit and with the pleasure I have to see you again, these were the words I wished to share with you. With thanks and encouragement, and especially the perspective provided by this visit – this first visit following the pandemic in China – and share with you my wish, the French government’s wish to continue very determinedly, at bilateral level, but also with our Europe and with regard to the major international issues that we share, this crucial dialogue with China. You are the ones who keep this dialogue going, through your commitment, your work and your action. And for this we will be eternally thankful.

Long the French Republic and long live France!./.

7 April 2023

At the invitation of Mr Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, made a state visit to the People’s Republic of China from 5 to 7 April 2023. As the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between France and China approaches, the two Presidents highlighted the solid foundations of the relations between the two countries and the friendship between the two peoples. They held in-depth discussions on the bilateral relationship, the EU-China relationship, and major regional and international questions, and decided to establish new horizons for Franco-Chinese cooperation, as well as seeking new impetus for relations between the European Union and China, in line with the joint statements adopted on 9 January 2018, 25 March 2019 and 6 November 2019.

I. Strengthening political dialogue and promoting mutual political confidence

1. France and China will continue annual meetings between the Presidents.

2. France and China highlight the importance of high-level contacts, their strategic dialogue, their high-level economic and financial dialogue and their high-level dialogue on people-to-people exchanges in fostering the development of their bilateral cooperation, and agree to hold another session of the said dialogues by the end of the year.

3. France and China reaffirm their will to continue the sustained development of their close and robust comprehensive strategic partnership, on the basis of mutual respect for their sovereignty, their territorial integrity and their major interests.

4. France and China agree to deepen discussions on strategic issues and in particular to deepen dialogue between the Southern Theatre Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the Command of French Forces in the Asia-Pacific Zone (ALPACI), in order to enhance their mutual understanding of regional and international security issues.

5. In this 20th anniversary year of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, China reaffirms its commitment to developing EU-China relations, encourages high-level discussions to foster convergence of views on strategic issues, to increase people-to-people exchanges, to collectively address global issues and to promote balanced and pro-active economic cooperation. As a European Union Member State, France shares these focuses and will contribute.

6. France reaffirms its commitment to the One China policy.

II. Together promoting global security and stability

7. As permanent members of the Security Council, France and China work together to seek constructive solutions based on international law to address the challenges and threats to international security and stability. They consider that divergences and disputes between States should be settled peacefully through dialogue and consultations. In a multi-polar world, they seek to strengthen the international multilateral system under the auspices of the United Nations.

8. France and China reiterate their endorsement of the P5 Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races of 3 January 2022. As it reiterates, “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”. The two countries call for any party to refrain from any action that could worsen the risks of tensions.

9. The two countries intend to strengthen coordination and cooperation in order to together preserve the authority and effectiveness of the arms control and non-proliferation regime and to advance the international arms control process. France and China reaffirm their commitment to balanced promotion of the three pillars of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) that are nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to constantly strengthen the universality, authority and effectiveness of the NPT.

10. The two countries support any effort to foster a restoration of peace in Ukraine on the basis of international law and the goals and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

11. The two countries oppose armed attacks against nuclear power plants and other peaceful nuclear facilities, and support the efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its efforts to play a constructive role in promoting the safety and security of peaceful nuclear facilities, including to ensure the safety and security of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

12. The two countries underline the importance of scrupulous compliance with international humanitarian law by all the parties to the conflict. In particular, they call for protection of women and children, victims of the conflict, for increased humanitarian assistance to conflict areas, and for safe, swift and unobstructed humanitarian access in accordance with international commitments.

13. The two countries will continue their consultations within the France-China strategic dialogue.

14. The conclusion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015 was a major achievement for multilateral diplomacy. France and China reiterate their commitment to promoting a political and diplomatic settlement on the Iran nuclear issue. They reiterate their commitment to preserving the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and the authority and effectiveness of Security Council resolutions. They reiterate their support to the IAEA in this regard.

15. France and China will continue close consultations concerning the Korean Peninsula.

16. The two countries agree to continue their discussions via the France-China dialogue on cyber issues.

III. Promoting economic exchanges

17. France and China commit to provide a level playing field for companies, particularly in the fields of cosmetics, agricultural and agrifood products, air traffic management, finance (banks, insurance, asset managers), health (medical equipment, vaccines), and energy, investment, and sustainable development. To do this, the two countries are working to provide a good environment for business cooperation, to improve business access to each other’s markets, to improve the business climate, and to ensure compliance with intellectual property rights of all companies of the two countries. In the field of the digital economy, including with regard to 5G, France commits to continue the fair and non-discriminatory processing of licence applications submitted by Chinese companies on the basis of laws and regulations, including with regard to the two countries’ national security.

18. France and China intend to continue to enhance their pragmatic cooperation in all fields of the service sector, and support economic and commercial exchanges between the two countries’ institutions and companies on the basis of mutual benefit, with a view to promoting the development of trade in services. France is ready to accept the invitation to participate in the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) as a guest country of honour.

19. France and China wish to intensify their partnership in the agricultural, agrifood, veterinary and phytosanitary fields. They welcome the securing of access to the market for pork products, the opening of the market for baby kiwi and for dairy proteins in animal feed, as well as the approval issued to 15 pork exporters. The authorities of the two countries will respond as swiftly as possible to future applications for approval of companies exporting agricultural and agrifood products, in particular meat and fish products, to applications for registration of infant milk formulas, which meet the requirement laid down by their food safety as well as to market opening requests made by their respective authorities. The two countries will continue their exchanges and cooperation in the suckler cows and viticulture sectors, as well as on geographical indications (GIs), in particular for the registration of GIs for Burgundy wines. France will support the application that China will submit to join the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) as swiftly as possible, as well as the organization by China of an international conference on the wine sector.

20. France and China welcome the conclusion of a General Terms Agreement confirming the purchase by Chinese companies of 160 Airbus aircraft. They will study in due course the needs of Chinese airlines, especially in terms of cargo and long-haul aircraft, according to the recovery and development of the Chinese transport market and air fleet. The two countries welcome the strengthening of cooperation between the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), and will continue to accelerate the certification process on the basis of mutually recognized international safety standards, particularly with regard to the H175, Falcon 8X and Y12F programmes. They welcome the conclusion of an agreement between the two countries’ companies of on sustainable aviation fuels. They are also continuing ongoing industrial cooperation, in particular the project for the new Airbus assembly line in Tianjin.

21. France and China support the resumption at the earliest opportunity of air connectivity to its pre-pandemic level, in a coordinated manner between civil aviation authorities and with a view to resuming implementation of the Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the French Republic relating to air transport signed on 1 June 1966 and the relevant arrangements on air freedoms. Airlines of the two countries should have fair and equal opportunities to operate flights between the two countries. They support the deepening of people-to-people and economic ties, including the facilitation of the issuance of visas for the private sector and the business community.

22. They welcome cooperation between the two countries’ space institutions, regarding the Chang’e 6 lunar probe and joint studies of extraterrestrial samples.

23. In their common desire for a transition to a decarbonized energy system, France and China are developing pragmatic cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear energy under the Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between the two governments. The two countries are committed to continuing their nuclear cooperation on cutting-edge research and development topics, in particular on the basis of the agreement between the China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). The two countries support the study by the two countries’ companies of the possibility of enhancing their industrial and technological cooperation, in particular on the reprocessing of nuclear waste.

24. France and China welcome the results obtained by the 2015 intergovernmental agreement on partnerships in third markets. They are working on monitoring and implementing cooperation projects in third markets that have already been identified. The two governments encourage companies, financial institutions and other players to explore new structural economic cooperation projects in third markets, on the basis of applicable high international standards.

IV. Boosting people-to-people and cultural exchanges

25. Keen to promote and protect the diversity of cultural expressions in the world, France and China support the deepening of their cooperation in the creation and showcasing of cultural works and will promote a dynamic resumption of exchanges and cooperation in the cultural and tourist fields. The two countries welcome the conclusion of a declaration of intent relating to cooperation in the field of culture between the two Ministries of Culture.

26. They will co-organize the Franco-Chinese Year of Cultural Tourism in 2024 and support the organization in France and China of high quality events, in particular between the Palace of Versailles and the Forbidden City as well as between the Pompidou Centre and the West Bund Museum. They commit to facilitate the circulation of the exhibitions in compliance with the two countries’ laws, in particular with regard to customs and logistical aspects, and will strive to ensure the integrity and return of the works exhibited within the framework of the supported exhibitions.

27. They reaffirm their desire to strengthen cooperation in cultural and creative industries, and their potential for reaching the widest audience possible, in particular in the sectors of literature, cinema, television documentaries, publishing (including video games), music, architecture and digital media through co-productions, copyright partnerships, competitions and artist exchanges.

28. France and China commit to intensify their bilateral cooperation in the protection, restoration and promotion of cultural heritage. The two countries welcome the conclusion of a roadmap on heritage cooperation relating in particular to Chinese experts working alongside French teams onsite to restore Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, cooperation on the protection, restoration and study of the Terracotta Army, cooperation projects around the Gongshutang Temple and the Maoling Mausoleum and the promotion of the twinning of French and Chinese World Heritage sites. The two countries will continue joint efforts to prevent and fight theft, clandestine excavations, and the illicit import and export of cultural property. They reaffirm their full support for the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH).

29. France and China reaffirm the importance they attach to cooperation on teaching each other’s languages, through which friendship and mutual understanding are forged. They will work on revitalizing the linguistic cooperation agreement between the two governments signed in June 2015, encourage the development of the teaching of the two languages in the two countries’ schools and the multiplication of bilingual courses, and promote exchanges and training of language teachers.

30. France and China reiterate their commitment to strengthening cooperation in higher education and vocational training. They will encourage the development of partnerships between higher education institutions, such as Franco-Chinese institutes, and together promote the mutual resumption of student and teacher mobility. They will also facilitate exchanges between schools. To this end, the two countries will establish a fast-track procedure for obtaining visas for these groups. The two countries will organize a new session of the Joint Franco-Chinese Commission on Education at the earliest opportunity.

31. The two Presidents agree that the next Joint Franco-Chinese Commission on Science and Technology should be held at the earliest opportunity to define the major guidelines for both bilateral scientific cooperation and the Joint Franco-Chinese Centre for Carbon Neutrality dedicated to promoting scientific and technological cooperation in the field of carbon neutrality. France and China wish to promote research exchanges, in particular through the Franco-Chinese Scientific Partnership Programme (the Hubert Curien – Cai Yuanpei Partnership). The two countries also intend to continue the implementation of the France-China Young Talents Programme in order to strengthen exchanges between young researchers from the two countries and promote cooperation in priority areas and the development of joint research activities.

32. Ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the two Presidents wish to make sport an important component of the bilateral relationship, particularly in terms of exchanges of young athletes, development of sports infrastructure and sharing expertise in relation to the sports industry.

V. A joint response to global challenges

33. Against the backdrop of food crises which affected 323 million people in 2022 according to the United Nations, the two countries are committed to maintaining market stability, avoiding unjustified export restrictions on inputs as well as agricultural products, and optimizing global food supply chains, starting with facilitating the export of cereals and fertilizers. The two countries are working to achieve these goals, including through the Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM) initiative and the Chinese initiative for global food security.

34. France and China agree on the importance of increasing support for the countries hardest hit by the food crisis, including their African partners, to build resilient and sustainable food systems. To that end, they intend to promote international cooperation for local production and against food loss and wastage. With this in mind, they are providing joint support to the competent organizations to address the issue of food security, including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP), financial institutions and multilateral and bilateral donors.

35. France and China highlight their support for the rules-based, WTO-centred multilateral trading system, undertake to build a free, open, transparent, inclusive and non-discriminatory trading environment, support the necessary WTO reform and support a positive outcome for the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference.

36. France and China intend to cooperate to resolve the difficulties in accessing financing in developing and emerging economies, and to encourage them to speed up their energy and climate transition while supporting sustainable development. China will take part in the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris in June 2023. France will attend the third “Belt and Road” Forum for International Cooperation.

37. The two countries agree to strengthen cooperation as part of the G20 so that the G20 plays its role as a major forum for global economic cooperation and, in line with its commitments made by the leaders at the Bali Summit, works to further the reform of the international monetary and financial system.

38. Against the backdrop of more vulnerable developing countries, France and China support the implementation of the Common Framework for Debt Treatments adopted by the G20 and the Paris Club which they joined in November 2020. The two countries reiterate their commitment to implementing the Common Framework in a timely, predictable, ordered, and coordinated manner, as well as their support for the debt agenda adopted at the meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in February 2023.

39. They appreciated that the G20 Summit in Bali welcomed the voluntary channelling of special drawing rights (SDR) and they call on the G20 Member States and volunteer States to increase their action, with a 30% increase in SDR made available for G20 countries, in order to quickly reach the $100 billion goal adopted at the G20 Rome Summit.

40. The climate, biodiversity and the fight against land degradation are among the priorities shared by France and China. The two countries undertake to maintain a high level of ambition, following on from the Beijing Call launched in November 2019 and in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement, as well as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (hereinafter referred to as the “Kunming-Montreal Framework”), adopted during the second part of the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) and which both parties welcome. China, which chairs the COP15 for the next two years, intends to work actively with France to fully and effectively implement the Kunming-Montreal Framework. France and China welcome the active contribution of the Kunming Fund and the facility which will be created to fund biodiversity under the Global Environment Facility. They welcome the work set out at the One Forest Summit in Libreville.

41. By COP16, France and China are committed to set out their revised national strategies and action plans, which will be aligned with the global biodiversity framework. China will positively consider joining the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People. The two countries are contributing to the goal of reducing subsidies that harm biodiversity by $500 billion per year.

42. France and China reaffirm their respective commitments to climate neutrality and carbon neutrality. France is committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. China is committed to reaching its CO2 emissions peak by 2030 and to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. The two countries will adopt policies and measures to implement their goals as regards nationally-determined contributions aligned with those of the Paris Agreement.

43. They hugely appreciate the progress on climate change made at COP27 and are committed to maintaining close discussions and coordination in the run-up to COP28, so that the first global stocktake of the Paris Agreement will be a success and encouraging progress can be seen on issues like mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, as well as implementation methods.

44. France and China support the promotion and development of financing contributing to the ecological transition. They are encouraging their financial sectors (including banks, insurers, managers and asset owners) to align their activities with the goals of mitigation and adaptation to climate change, as well as those of preserving biodiversity, developing the circular economy, managing, controlling and reducing pollution, and blue finance. France and China are also encouraging discussion between agencies and development banks, central banks, regulators and financial authorities in the area of green and sustainable finance, with the aim of sharing their experiences and promoting the establishment and improvement of standards, including in the area of standardizing extra-financial information. They are committed to supporting the development of sustainable capital markets.

45. France and China are aware that the building sector accounts for a large share of their greenhouse gas emissions and are actively considering joining the Buildings Breakthrough initiative. The two countries are stepping up their cooperation to promote reduced energy consumption and decarbonization of buildings and to encourage sustainable urban development.

46. France and China are taking action to protect the Ocean. The two countries welcome the finalization by the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction of a text aimed at ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction and continue to step up discussions and coordination as part of the follow-up process to that text. The two Heads of State reaffirmed that their countries will work to promote the conservation of marine living resources in the Antarctic in accordance with the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and are continuing discussions on creating marine protected areas in the Antarctic. France and China are working within the UN Decade for Ocean Sciences for sustainable development and have created national committees, in 2021 and 2022 respectively, in order to highlight the importance of knowledge in order to better protect the oceans. They recognize the importance of combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

47. France and China are working to bring about a successful UN Ocean Conference 2025, to be co-hosted by France and Costa Rica. China will examine the roadmap proposed by France, linking their respective COP15 Kunming presidencies on biodiversity and the third UN Ocean Conference, to be held in Nice in 2025.

48. France and China are fighting pollution generated by plastics (including microplastics), are supporting and participating in the negotiating work of the Intergovernmental Committee mandated by resolutions 5/14 adopted during the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), and are working to adopt a legally-binding international instrument.

49. France and China are committed to sustainably protecting and managing forest ecosystems, supporting scientific research on more sustainable value chains and combatting illegal logging and its associated trade. They intend to further cooperation on the conservation of nature as well as the protection, restoration and sustainable use of steppe zones. Within this framework, France and China welcome the active cooperation between the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) and China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA).

50. France and China will work together towards a fairer energy transition in developing countries through fair energy transition partnerships and other tools.

51. France and China highlight the importance for the development of each country of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms in line with the goals and principles of the Charter of the United Nations./.

Guangdong, 7 April 2023

(Check against delivery)

Hello everyone. Dàjiā hǎo .

I’m going to try and share a few words with you, and above all answer your questions, because this is more an exchange than a speech. But I am indeed very pleased to be at your university today.

Thanks very much, Mr President, for your words just now. Guangdong has a very special history, including a very special history with France. When we look back to this past, the first French ship, the Amphitrite, which set sail for Guangdong from the port of La Rochelle, didn’t have any soldiers or traders or conquerors on board: it primarily had mathematicians. And that’s slightly akin to the metaphor of the debate we’re having today; [we’re] convinced that it’s through knowledge and science that friendship can be forged. And we’re convinced that it’s also by this means that it can be maintained. Indeed, for this path, this somewhat unique path, knowledge and mutual understanding have played a unique role.

So after three years of pandemic, I’m pleased to be back in China. I had the opportunity to speak to your President at length in Beijing yesterday. I’ll be seeing him again shortly, just after you. But resuming the conversation, in a way, and dialogue, also means trying to provide a few signposts for the future about what our relationship, what China and France together can forge, can do for ourselves, our peoples and the world. And on the strength of what’s just been said, I wanted simply to share three strong beliefs.

The first is that we have a great deal to do together to successfully tackle one of the challenges of our age and our generations, yours and mine – that of the ecological transition – and take up the challenges of climate change, the disruption that ensues and the protection of biodiversity. Our countries have worked together a great deal in recent years to push forward international legislation, treaties. But we – China and France, China and Europe – now have a lot to do in practice to make a success of transforming our economies.

So in this regard, the Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, which you mentioned, is working daily on this. A Franco-Chinese Centre for Carbon Neutrality has been launched during this visit and will enable us to work on it. But there’s a path to build through research and innovation, because there’s obviously growth to be pursued. And in recent decades China has managed to lift many of your compatriots out of job insecurity and/or poverty, and so the challenge of growth and progress for all through decarbonizing our economies and protecting biodiversity is essential. This path involves the transformation of our economies, research, our ability to innovate and have this carbon neutrality, to which we’re committed for 2050. I believe very profoundly that, as we managed to do 40 years ago with nuclear energy, all the technology partnerships and the accelerated deployment of new practices that we can develop together are key to this strategy.

The second strong belief I wanted to share with you is that at the same time as this challenge exists, among others – and we could come back to it in the discussion and mention the technological challenge, artificial intelligence, social media and changing practices –, there’s also a strategic challenge. And basically, if I were a young Chinese person today I’d be worried. Not worried for my country, because you have a strong country, a tremendous development model, but worried about rising tensions. And I think if I were a young European – which unfortunately I no longer am – I’d be just as worried.

And in the face of this strategic challenge, I think your generations have a lot to do. We have rising tensions, it’s palpable, you can hear it in the speeches. These rising tensions are strategic, between the United States of America and China – we can also come back to that very explicitly. And it’s speeding up with the major conflicts of the moment, in particular the return of war to Europe and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. This war is a clear violation of our international law, it’s about a country that has decided to colonize its neighbour, not respect the rules, redeploy weapons and invade it. And it very deeply disturbs the peace of us all, our international order, and threatens to accelerate, in a way, this strategic tension.

That’s why I believe very deeply that today we have to work to prevent any escalation, and at the same time preserve, reinvent an international order of peace and stability. Not at all costs, not by thinking that the existing situation of an illegal war could be accepted. By restoring international legitimacy, but with everyone ensuring that this respect does exist between nations with their differences, but that the international order we managed to build on emerging from the Second World War – which is based on fundamental principles, the sovereignty of peoples, their territorial integrity, universal values – continues to prevail.

The defence of these universal, not regional values, these basic rights, and also our ability to take up the challenges of the moment – food security, on which we’re working with China, solidarity with the poorest countries and vulnerable countries, as we want to do in the richest countries’ new financial pact with the poorest countries – is a duty today if we don’t want to see an acceleration of imbalances and a fragmentation of the international order.

There have always been conflicts, and there have been more in recent decades, but we had a form of international stability based on these principles, institutions we founded and an ability to regulate our conflicts of all types. This international order has now grown fragile, and we, China and France, have a responsibility to preserve it and, at the same time, reinvent it in the light of 21st-century realities. And what we’re currently doing on the handful of issues I’ve just mentioned is essential.

In this context, the third element I wanted to come back to, to conclude these remarks to you, is basically the importance of the less official, less formal, calmer and more respectful paths known as people-to-people exchanges, i.e. what you are [doing]. Channels of dialogue which, through the knowledge of a language, of history, of civilizations, and also the sharing of a common understanding, of a science, enable us to patiently build roads – whether it be ploughing furrows that already exist or building or reinventing new roads.

I can’t tell you what the world will be like in 10, 15 or 20 years’ time. What I can tell you is that the ability to know ourselves better may be what can protect us from the major disorders and confrontation mentalities that always go with self-absorption, and that’s what will enable us to correct the mistakes our generations may make – correct them or at any rate invent a desirable future.

In this respect, I want to say a few words here to champion these exchanges. Before the pandemic, France welcomed over 30,000 Chinese students every year and China more than 10,000 French students. We’re in the process of restoring this momentum, but we’ve got to go much faster and much harder. I want to say here, to your whole generation, that you are welcome in France to carry out your studies and study French, which, I very deeply believe, is a language of the future. Don’t disregard it. It means firstly understanding our culture, our civilization. It’s a tremendous entry point for Europe, but it’s also a tremendous entry point for the whole Francophone world. And French is a language of every continent and one which doesn’t belong only to France. It’s the main language of the African continent and, incidentally, the one which unifies it. The language is widespread throughout the American continent. Through its history, it is present on the Asian continent and it’s one of the major languages of the Pacific. So access to French also means access to a universal medium. I’m promoting it here, before you.

But I’d also like us to welcome more Chinese students, because I think it’s also an opportunity for us and I’d like – I was talking to those who, precisely, nurture Chinese language, culture and civilization in our country, we ourselves are going to invest a great deal in sending more researchers, more scientists and consolidate this field of excellence, that of a French grande école [prestigious higher-education institute]. But we can clearly see that ancient, modern and contemporary history, and also contemporary research, are absolutely vital for us to continue understanding each other and moving forward. And it isn’t limited to, shall I say, diplomatic and economic ties.

There’s a need for academic links, for understanding, for exchange, for a conversation of minds and for learning. And in this world where everything moves at a faster and faster pace, where final judgements can fall like bombshells, rejoining this calm path towards mutual understanding is essential. So I also strongly urge you to. And I believe this is what the President and many of your French partners – Paul Valéry Montpellier 3 University, Sorbonne University, KEDGE Business School and several others – are continuing to do.

To manage this, we’ve obviously got to develop knowledge of our languages. Around 80,000 people are learning Mandarin in France and 100,000 are learning French in secondary and higher education in China. We must each do much more and much better. It can’t be decreed, it can’t be done because of an imperative, a duty, but because of a mutual attraction, and I think there’s a mutual attraction between China and France, a fascination, a friendship, a rather unique path and by being here, before you, I’d also like your generations who are aware of this history to have this same desire for France at the same time as young French people have a desire for your language, culture and civilization thousands of kilometres away.

In this respect, our Alliances françaises and our major research institutes are continuing to develop. Our ambassador will be opening another tomorrow. They’re deployed in 14 Chinese cities and we’ll continue making progress. The role of INALCO [National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations] is obviously essential, and I thank the President for being here today. We’ll also continue developing it for the future, through education.

Those are the few words I wanted to say. I won’t go on any longer. And as you’ll have understood, I’m convinced that, by respecting what differences we may have and being curious about these differences – because there’s nothing more boring than being the same –, by cultivating them in a respectful, friendly way, we have an ability to take up the major challenges of the century ahead and forestall the inevitabilities which people already want to write for us. And that’s really the duty of your generation too. (…)./.

Amsterdam, 12 April 2023

Q. – You spoke together about sovereignty and European autonomy. I wanted to know, M. Macron, if your recent remarks about China and Taiwan, and Europe’s positioning in this context, have been liable or not to complicate the debates about Europe’s strategic autonomy, particularly in relation to China? (…) How would France, the Netherlands and Europe react in the event of an invasion of Taiwan by China? And then perhaps a more personal question for M. Macron regarding the statements by Mr Trump, who accuses you of licking China’s boots, shall we say, to use a polite translation. How do you react to those comments by the Republican ex-President?

THE PRESIDENT – On your question, first of all, I think European strategic autonomy isn’t simply a concept, it’s actually becoming both a political and a de-facto reality. That’s what we’re all currently building together. And so we have this to do, for ourselves and externally. It’s also through this strategic autonomy that we must maintain Europe’s unity in relation to China. This, incidentally, is why both of us have constantly championed a united approach towards China, rejecting divisive formats, the notorious 17+1 and others. And in upholding a united approach, I took the initiative in 2019 of involving Chancellor Merkel and President Juncker, and this time of proposing a trilateral format with President Von der Leyen during this visit, which is the best demonstration of unity by our Europe.

Secondly, in relation to the region, we’re united and our strategic autonomy is being rolled out through the Indo-Pacific strategy we’ve adopted Europe-wide and which both of us are also reasserting and supporting, given our histories in the region, through the joint declaration during this visit. We’re both – and this is the European policy – in favour of an open Indo-Pacific. In this regard, the position of France and the Europeans is the same on Taiwan: we’re in favour of the status quo, and this policy is consistent, it hasn’t changed: it’s the One China policy and the search for a peaceful settlement of the issue. That’s what I said in a private meeting with the President. It’s what has been repeated everywhere. We haven’t changed. Furthermore, on this issue I can tell you, having spoken to President Biden before my visit to China, that he personally is determined to avoid any escalation despite the current tensions. And we each have our approach to China, but we share a common vision with the United States, too, of an open Indo-Pacific where navigation is free and cooperation possible. And when I hear certain people who doubt France’s clarity on this issue, I really ask them to look at the fact that in recent days we’ve seen the frigate Prairial passing through the waters of the region, which was scheduled, and clearly showing our commitment to an open Indo-Pacific – without provocation, without escalation, with respect, with clarity. I simply don’t join in the verbal escalation that may exist with some people, which consists in conducting as a matter of urgency for our policies, as it were, either hypothetical policy that consists in wondering “what happens if?” – which is the best way of making it happen – or increasing the number of provocations. And so yes, France doesn’t support provocations, doesn’t support hypothetical policy, and believes that the status quo, respect and clarity are the best allies of European strategic autonomy and our vision of things. That’s why I won’t be joining in the comments and I won’t say anything about former President Trump’s phrases, because he’s joining in this escalation which certain people are seeking. When he was president I didn’t comment on those phrases; I’m not going to do so now that he’s no longer president.

Q. – On your statements about Taiwan, what do you think about this anger in the United States, in Poland? And you talk about mistakes, misdeeds; do you now regret your statements about Taiwan? Is France still an ally of the United States? (…)

THE PRESIDENT – Well, perhaps my previous reply wasn’t properly translated into Dutch, and so I’m going to pick up on it in order to answer your question. And I’ve been closely following the White House’s reactions. I haven’t read what you’ve mentioned. That there are journalistic or political comments by people who are actually seeking escalation is certain – sometimes, incidentally, the same people who were making very escalatory remarks even without me needing to speak. I’ve seen a lot of balance and coherence in the White House’s statements, because we also have constant and close ties.

The line is the one I mentioned earlier: France is in favour of the status quo in Taiwan. France supports the One China policy and the search for a peaceful settlement of the situation. That’s also the Europeans’ position. And it’s a position which, historically, has been compatible with the role of ally.

But it’s on this very point that I stress the importance of strategic autonomy: being an ally doesn’t mean being a vassal. Just because we’re allies, do things together and decide to do things doesn’t mean we no longer have the right to think for ourselves and are going to follow the most hardline people in a country that is our ally.

Secondly, when you look at the facts, France won’t be lectured by anyone, either about the Ukraine theatre or the Sahel theatre or the Taiwan theatre, and I reiterated this when mentioning the presence of a French frigate in the region in recent days.

So there you are, I’m being very clear, but sometimes [you must] remind people of the truth and not follow the prevailing din, which in a way leads to one thing, namely my own personal fear: that, in a way, when you hear only the most extreme voices calling for escalation and you get over-reactions, what do you do? You reach the situation you wanted to avoid. We don’t want conflict. We want the status quo, and that’s what I told President Xi Jinping. I know that’s also President Biden’s wish. It’s our wish as Europeans, and we want an open Indo-Pacific. We’re fully in alignment on that. There you are. (…)./.

Published on 27/04/2023

Also in this section

• France and UK call for de-escalation in Middle East
• Settler attack on Palestinians in the West Bank
• Joint statements by France and partners on the Middle East
• President speaks to Middle East leaders to ease regional tensions
• France condemns Israeli strike on a school in Gaza

Quick access

• Consulate generals of France in the UK

• Work & Careers
• Life & Arts

UK Edition Change

• UK Politics
• News Videos
• Paris 2024 Olympics
• Rugby Union
• Sport Videos
• John Rentoul
• Mary Dejevsky
• Andrew Grice
• Sean O’Grady
• Photography
• Theatre & Dance
• Culture Videos
• Fitness & Wellbeing
• Food & Drink
• Health & Families
• Royal Family
• Electric Vehicles
• Car Insurance Deals
• Lifestyle Videos
• UK Hotel Reviews
• News & Advice
• Simon Calder
• Australia & New Zealand
• South America
• C. America & Caribbean
• Middle East
• Politics Explained
• News Analysis
• Today’s Edition
• Home & Garden
• Broadband deals
• Fashion & Beauty
• Travel & Outdoors
• Sports & Fitness
• Climate 100
• Sustainable Living
• Climate Videos
• Solar Panels
• Behind The Headlines
• On The Ground
• Decomplicated
• You Ask The Questions
• Binge Watch
• Travel Smart
• Watch on your TV
• Crosswords & Puzzles
• Most Commented
• Newsletters
• Ask Me Anything
• Virtual Events
• Wine Offers

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in

Watch as French president Emmanuel Macron arrives in China for state visit

Article bookmarked.

Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails, thanks for signing up to the breaking news email.

Watch as Emmanuel Macron arrives at Beijing airport for a state visit to China .

The French president touches down on Wednesday 5 April alongside European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for a three-day trip that will see them meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping .

Discussions about Russia ’s war in Ukraine are expected to be high on the agenda.

“China is the only country in the world capable of having an immediate and radical impact on the conflict, in one direction or the other,” an official from Mr Macron’s office said ahead of the visit.

Beijing claims to hold a neutral stance on the war, but has previously stressed its “no-limits friendship” with Russia.

Mr Xi last month met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and a top French official acknowledged that Paris isn’t expecting to see a major shift in China’s position.

Click here to sign up for our newsletters.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.

New to The Independent?

Or if you would prefer:

Hi {{indy.fullName}}

• My Independent Premium
• Account details
• Help centre

The Straits Times

• International
• Print Edition
• news with benefits
• SPH Rewards
• STClassifieds
• Berita Harian
• Hardwarezone
• Shin Min Daily News
• Tamil Murasu
• The Business Times
• The New Paper
• Lianhe Zaobao
• Advertise with us

5 key moments from French President Macron's visit to China

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - French President Emmanuel Macron will wrap up his first official visit to China on Wednesday (Jan 10) with a clearer idea of the challenge he faces in wielding Europe's economic power on the global stage.

Macron's calls for a "rebalancing" of Europe's economic relationship with China won few concessions from President Xi Jinping and a meagre return for the business leaders in his delegation.

Here are five key elements of the diplomatic manoeuvres:

COURTING THE DRAGON

Macron pulled out all the stops to warm up the Chinese. He praised their culture, their history, and listened to a long explanation of meaning of their national symbol, the dragon, on a visit to the Forbidden City. He even quoted the Yuan dynasty poet, Wang Mian, whom Xi had referenced in his speech to the Communist Party last year.

Xi talked up the "deep historical significance" of the relationship between France and China and paid tribute to General Charles de Gaulle, who founded the Fifth Republic in France and restored diplomatic ties with China in 1964.

France is already hosting a female panda and her cub at a zoo near Paris. Macron brought Xi a horse from the French Republican guard.

DIFFICULT ISSUES

Macron arrived in Beijing as the spokesman for a European Union that is increasingly uncomfortable with its trade relationship with China.

The president's buzzword throughout the trip was "reciprocity."

The ancient Silk Road wasn't just about China, he pointed out, it was about Europe too. When he went into the detail, it sounded trickier: more market access for EU firms, shared standards, and more Chinese investment in France - but only the right sort.

FRANK WORDS

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire was more candid about French concerns. On the sidelines of a lunch with French chefs working in Beijing, Le Maire told reporters he was determined that investors from China, or elsewhere, wouldn't pick off technology from France or the EU without boosting the local economy.

"There are looters in every country," Le Maire said. "All of them need to understand that Europe has the means to protect itself."

FEW BUSINESS DEALS

Macron's team warned before departure that this trip would yield little in commercial terms. And they were right.

Despite bringing an entourage of more than 50 business leaders, the visit produced just a handful of confirmed business.

Safran will provide jet engines to a clutch of Chinese airlines and Electricite de France signed two energy-services contracts. But the biggest prospective deals, for Areva and Airbus, remained just statements of intent. Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma said he's considering building a logistics centre in France.

"Rather than figures, I prefer a follow-up," Macron told reporters.

RIVALRY WITH THE US

Europe's competition with the US for Chinese favour was an undercurrent to the talks.

"When the wind of change is coming, some build walls, while others build wind mills," Macron told a group of business leaders including Ma, deploying a traditional Chinese proverb. "I want to build wind mills."

The reference managed to skewer US President Donald Trump's much-vaunted plans for a wall on the Mexican border as well as his decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement. But Xi's response was non-committal.

"China supports a bigger role for France in promoting European integration," he said. "We welcome France making contributions to the development of relations between China and Europe."

While Trump left Beijing in November brandishing US$250 billion (S$332 billion) worth of deals, Macron won no such prize. Chinese officials asked the team from Paris not to give a figure for the value of the business concluded, according to a senior French official.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

• Web Specials
• Emmanuel Macron

Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards

Spin the wheel now

China’s Xi Courts France’s Macron in Bid to Drive Wedge Between Europe and U.S.

X i Jinping is pulling out all the stops for French President Emmanuel Macron as China’s leader tries to create some distance between Europe and the US in their approaches toward Beijing.

During the three-day visit, which kicks off Wednesday, Macron will have extensive face time with Xi. After formal meetings in Beijing on Thursday, which will also include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen , Macron and Xi will head to the southern city of Guangzhou.

The excursion to meet a world leader at a second location outside the capital is rare for Xi, who normally reserves such honors for close friends like Russian President Vladimir Putin: In 2018, they took a high-speed train to Tianjin east of Beijing and watched a hockey match together.

French officials say they have sensed a special warmth from Chinese counterparts ahead of the trip and they say preparations have been smoother and friendlier than previous visits by Macron.

With former German Chancellor Angela Merkel no longer in power, Xi now sees Macron as someone who can push the European Union toward a more moderate position on China than the US. In addition to having an influential voice among North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, France is also a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council — and Macron in particular has sought to engage with Putin to find a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine.

“He’s certainly, from the Chinese perspective, the most important politician in Europe,” said Joerg Wuttke, head of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. “He’s definitely the point man.”

With US-China relations in a tailspin, Beijing is looking to prevent Europe from joining in, particularly on measures like export controls of key technologies that would hurt growth in the world’s second-biggest economy. The EU, including Germany and France, are seeking to balance a desire to engage with China on trade and investment while still asserting what they deem core European values, including respect for human rights and territorial sovereignty in places like Ukraine.

Macron spoke with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday about the China visit, and “they also reiterated their steadfast support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” according to a White House statement.

Macron, who took power in 2017, worked with Merkel previously to negotiate the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment , an accord between China and the EU that was poised to take economic ties to new heights. Yet it was shelved in 2021 after the two sides clashed over sanctions imposed due to alleged human-rights abuses, and now appears all but dead.

“Now that Merkel has gone, we only have Macron who knows all the background,” said Henry Wang Huiyao, founder of the Center for China and Globalization. “He’s in a better position to promote EU-China relations and France-China relations.”

‘Global Order’

China’s treatment of Macron stands in contrast to that of von der Leyen, who will also visit China from Wednesday to Friday. While China’s Foreign Ministry said Macron was coming “at the invitation” of Xi on a “state visit,” it added that von der Leyen was merely “visiting” as “agreed between China and the EU.”

In a speech last week, she called on EU members to scale back the risks in dealing with an increasingly assertive China, rather than decouple completely, in response to a new era of state security and control. That generated a terse reply from China’s ambassador to the EU, who told state broadcaster CCTV that von der Leyen’s speech writer “does not really understand China or deliberately distorted China’s positions.”

Macron, meanwhile, has warned Europe against picking sides between the US and China, touting the benefits of a middle path during a November speech while attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO summit in Bangkok “We need a single global order,” he said to extended applause.

The French president will be accompanied by a delegation of executives from large and small French companies, including from electricity utility Electricite de France SA, train-maker Alstom SA and waste and water management company Veolia Environnement SA, as well as Airbus SE. The European plane-maker is working to secure a multi billion-dollar sale of wide-body jets to China in a deal that could come together as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News.

While France was the third largest trading partner with China in the European Union last year after Germany and the Netherlands, two-way trade between the countries fell 4.4% last year to $81 billion and key investors have seen rising competition. Supermarket chain operator Carrefour SA in 2019 sold 80% of its local operations to Chinese rival Suning.com Co., while Stellantis NV, the producer of Peugeot and Citroën cars, is considering stopping manufacturing autos in China after shuttering its only Jeep factory in the nation.

It’s unclear, however, whether securing business deals for French firms would help Macron, who has faced violent protests at home after pushing through a reform of the country’s pension system by bypassing the traditional legislative process.

Read More: Can Macron Still Govern France?

Macron could also face challenges if he shows any support for Xi’s blueprint for peace in Ukraine , which has been dismissed by the US. Macron has already been subject to criticism in European capitals for his unsuccessful efforts to secure any concessions from Moscow despite multiple calls to Putin before and after his invasion.

Still, China’s cease-fire proposal — combined with some economic carrots — could open divisions within NATO, according to Chu-Ping Lo, associate professor at National Taiwan University.

“Europe may feel that the US, which benefits the most, is seeking to continue to benefit from the Russia-Ukraine war,” he said. “This could be a turning point in the split of NATO.”

–With assistance from Fran Wang and Samy Adghirni.

More Must-Reads from TIME

• Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
• Heman Bekele Is TIME’s 2024 Kid of the Year
• The Reintroduction of Kamala Harris
• A Battle Over Fertility Law in China
• For the Love of Savoring Sandwiches : Column
• The 1 Heart-Health Habit You Should Start When You’re Young
• Cuddling Might Help You Get Better Sleep
• The 50 Best Romance Novels to Read Right Now

Contact us at [email protected]

Ahead of Xi meeting, Macron warns against shunning China

• Medium Text

• Macron lands in Beijing ahead of von der Leyen
• First such trips since 2019
• Macron, Biden held call ahead of visit
• Trade risks and Ukraine crisis in mind

UKRAINE IN FOCUS

Sign up here.

Reporting by Michel Rose and Laurie Chen in Beijing; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Robert Birsel and Mark Heinrich

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

Thomson Reuters

Michel reports on French politics and diplomacy, having covered President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee since 2017 and the rise of the far right under Marine Le Pen. He also writes about power dynamics in the EU. He previously covered macro-economics and energy. Worked at the Milan, Italy bureau of Reuters during the euro zone debt crisis and at the London headquarters. Michel is a graduate of the London School of Economics and the Sorbonne, and is interested in mental health and social diversity issues.

Laurie Chen is a China Correspondent at Reuters' Beijing bureau, covering politics and general news. Before joining Reuters, she reported on China for six years at Agence France-Presse and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. She speaks fluent Mandarin.

Kyiv: our Kursk attack shows Kremlin red lines are bluff

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday his country's assault on Russia's Kursk region showed that Kremlin threats of retaliation were a bluff, and he urged Kyiv's allies to loosen curbs on using foreign-supplied weapons.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

From Red Carpet to Doghouse: Macron Returns From China to Allied Dismay

Criticism of the French president’s performance in Beijing has been scathing among some allies, who saw him as cozying up to Beijing.

By Roger Cohen

PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron landed in China to a red-carpet reception and all the pomp of a state visit, a three-day tour little short of a love-fest that he clearly hoped would further his ambitions for France to sit at the table of the great powers in a world changed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Beijing’s emergence as an arbiter of global conflict.

But Mr. Macron’s reception on returning to Europe has been chilly.

Already embattled at home, facing huge weekly protests in the streets, he now finds himself excoriated abroad for what has been criticized as his naïveté — first with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, whom he failed to dissuade from war after an intense courtship, and now with China’s president, Xi Jinping, who wants to drive a wedge between Europe and the United States and has warned of American “containment.”

The fallout from the China trip has left the French president more isolated than at any time in his six-year presidency, unpopular in France and mistrusted beyond it as he attempts to reshape not only his own country but also the foundations of whatever international order will emerge after the war in Ukraine.

In short order in China, Mr. Macron managed to alienate or worry allies from Warsaw to Washington, with his embrace of what a Sino-French declaration called a “global strategic partnership with China.” He adopted the Chinese lexicon of a “multipolar” world, freed of “blocs,” liberated from the “Cold War mentality,” and less reliant on the “extraterritoriality of the U.S. dollar.”

Most worrisome, particularly for the United States, he suggested in an interview with Politico and French journalists on the way home that the security of Taiwan is not the problem of a Europe that must resist becoming America’s “vassals.”

How Taiwanese democracy and freedom differ from Ukrainian democracy and freedom, and how the threat of Russian autocracy differs from the threat of a Chinese autocracy that backs Moscow, were two questions left unanswered by Mr. Macron.

Speaking of Taiwan, he said: “The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”

By Tuesday the Élysée Palace, home to the president, felt it necessary to clarify France’s allegiances, so muddied had the optics become. France, it said, “is not equidistant between the United States and China. The United States is our ally, with shared values.”

The fact that this clarification was necessary suggested how much Mr. Macron had unsettled his allies.

“The alliance with the United States is the absolute foundation of our security,” Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister of Poland, said on Tuesday in an evident riposte to Mr. Macron, noting that some Western leaders “dream of cooperation with everyone, with Russia and with some powers in the Far East.”

The comment underscored how Mr. Macron often speaks for Europe’s ambitions and dreams even as sharp divisions persist on the continent, particularly between frontline states bordering Russia that are fiercely attached to NATO, and Mr. Macron’s Gaullist vision of a France that is “allied but not aligned” with Washington.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a Republican, recorded a two-minute video lambasting Mr. Macron in which he asked: “Does Macron speak for all of Europe? Is Macron now the head of Europe? Because if he is, there are some things we are going to have to change.”

One such change, he said, might be America telling Europe: “You guys handle Ukraine.”

This suggestion pointed to one of the issues with Mr. Macron’s remarks. Talk of building European “strategic autonomy” at a time when the United States is providing the vast bulk of the military support for Ukraine seemed provocative, especially with an American election year looming and restiveness growing in the Republican Party over massive spending on Ukraine.

Another was timing: Mr. Macron spoke hours before China began threatening military drills around Taiwan in response to a meeting days earlier of the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, with the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, in California.

“It matters where and when you say things,” said Guntram Wolff, the director of the German Council on Foreign Relations. “When you leave Xi and immediately say Taiwan is none of our business it seems bizarre.”

He added: “If you think Europe should give up on Taiwan, you immediately are asked, who else do you give up on?”

The Biden administration refrained from criticizing its French ally, and the European Union played down any differences between Mr. Macron and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president who accompanied him to China. She was far more forthright on Taiwan while there, saying, “Nobody should unilaterally change the status quo by force in this region.”

Ms. von der Leyen received none of the lavish attention showered on Mr. Macron. China prefers nation states to transnational entities, and had bristled at a speech she made this month in which she criticized China as “more repressive at home and more assertive abroad.”

On the face of it, Taiwan does matter to Europe for economic and political reasons. The world runs on Taiwanese chips. The island democracy produces over 60 percent of the world’s semiconductors and about 90 percent of the most elaborate ones.

After China’s crushing of democratic aspirations in Hong Kong, the implications of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and the suppression there of liberal democracy would be devastating for the very causes Europe and Mr. Macron have committed to defend in Ukraine.

The French presidential statement said: “Our position on Taiwan is constant. We support the status quo and maintain our exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan, which is a recognized democratic system.”

Yet after his failed attempt to sway Mr. Putin last year with similar talk of a new “strategic architecture” for Europe, Mr. Macron has clearly decided to woo Mr. Xi. He hopes not only to reap economic and trade benefits but also to secure Chinese mediation in ending the war in Ukraine. There was no evidence of any such assistance from Mr. Xi during the visit.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, was not impressed by Mr. Macron: “His latest visit to China only emboldens the Communists and President Xi, who seems to be hellbent on rewriting world order and taking Taiwan by force,” he commented on Twitter.

But of course it is precisely such Republican confrontational goading of China that Mr. Macron does not want to see Europe drawn into despite itself.

The immediate cost for Mr. Macron appears high.

“A debacle,” said Nicole Bacharan, a prominent French foreign policy analyst, of Mr. Macron’s interview in Politico, which also revealed that the Élysée had insisted on “proofreading” the story and had cut “some parts of the interview in which the president spoke even more frankly about Taiwan and Europe’s strategic autonomy.”

On Tuesday Mr. Macron made another state visit, traveling to the Netherlands. “Our Europe is made of dreams,” he said there, adding “I don’t want my dreams to be dreamed in other people’s language.”

It was unclear whether he was referring to American or Chinese.

On Thursday, another big demonstration against Mr. Macron’s pension reform is scheduled in France. Anger still runs high.

“He is looking for a new orientation,” said one government minister who was not authorized to speak and declined to be named. “But with no stable coalition in Parliament, it’s difficult.”

Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Steven Erlanger contributed reporting from Brussels, and Aurelien Breeden from Paris.

Roger Cohen is the Paris bureau chief of The Times. He was a columnist from 2009 to 2020. He has worked for The Times for more than 30 years and has served as a foreign correspondent and foreign editor. Raised in South Africa and Britain, he is a naturalized American. More about Roger Cohen

Around the World With The Times

Our reporters across the globe take you into the field..

Living in China’s Military Shadow: More than 200 Filipino civilian settlers on a contested island in the South China Sea find themselves on the frontier of a possible conflict with China .

Waving the Kenyan Flag: Kenya has strict legal limits on the use of its national flag. But as antigovernment protests have roiled the East African nation, protesters are displaying it as a symbol of resistance .

Has Power Moderated Meloni?: Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, has mostly shown a pragmatic streak abroad. But at home, her conservative government is plunging many gay families into panic .

A Canadian Chemist Shines on YouTube: Disillusioned with grad school, Nigel Braun dropped out to film chemistry videos in his parents’ garage in Montreal. Then millions began viewing his whimsical and occasionally dangerous experiments .

A Villa Tainted by Nazism: The former estate of Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, is falling apart. No one knows quite what to do with it .

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Macron comments raise questions about Europe's allegiance to the U.S. and Taiwan

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron visit the garden of the residence of the Governor of Guangdong on April 7. JACQUES WITT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron visit the garden of the residence of the Governor of Guangdong on April 7.

French President Emmanuel Macron drew consternation on both sides of the Atlantic with a recent interview in which he questioned Europe's allegiance to the United States.

Macron spoke to journalists from Politico Europe and the French newspaper Les Echos, saying that "the great risk" Europe faces is that it "gets caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy," especially when it comes to the U.S.'s escalating tensions with China over Taiwan. In the interview , he suggested that the "worst thing" would be to "take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction."

Elected officials in both the U.S. and Europe criticized Macron's comments, which were made Friday before China launched combat exercises around Taiwan in response to last week's visit to the U.S. by the Taiwanese president..

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) said in a statement t hat Macron's comments are "severely out of touch" with sentiment across European leadership: "You do not speak for Europe," it said.

Noah Barkin, a senior advisor with the China practice of the research provider Rhodium Group, calls Macron's remarks "concerning" from a U.S. perspective in a conversation with Michel Martin on NPR's Morning Edition.

"I don't think that Macron's messages necessarily reflect the European consensus on China," he said.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Search Trends

• Learn Chinese

EXPLORE MORE

DOWNLOAD OUR APP

Copyright © 2023 CGTN. 京ICP备16065310号

Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466

• Terms of use
• Privacy policy

Ukraine war latest: Third Russian bridge 'attacked' - as Putin 'in position he never dreamt in worst nightmares'

Russia says Ukraine has attacked a third bridge in the Kursk region - as an ex-UK foreign secretary says Kyiv has put Vladimir Putin "into a position he never dreamt in his worst nightmares". Listen to a Daily podcast on how Ukraine crossed the Russian president's "red line" as you scroll.

Monday 19 August 2024 17:34, UK

• Big picture : What you need to know as war enters new week
• Ukrainian city under attack tells families to evacuate
• Third bridge 'attacked' in Russian region of Kursk
• Michael Clarke : Battle of bridges is about to begin
• Putin 'in a position he never dreamt of in his worst nightmares'  
• Your questions answered: What is Ukraine hoping to achieve with invasion of Russia?
• Listen to the Daily above and tap here to follow wherever you get your podcasts

That's all our live coverage on the war in Ukraine for now. 

We will be back if there are any major developments this evening. If not, we'll be back tomorrow with all the latest updates.

Before we go, here's a reminder of today's key events:

• A "battle of bridges" may be about to start after Ukraine targeted a third Russian bridge in the region of Kursk, defence and security analyst Professor Michael Clarke said;
• A mandatory evacuation order for families with children has begun in the city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, as Russian forces advance; Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman says there has been "no change" in the UK's position on Ukraine using Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia's borders;
• Ukraine's attack on the Kursk region means Russia is not ready to hold peace talks for now, an aide to Vladimir Putin has said;
• Elon Musk has denied gifting a Tesla Cybertruck to a Chechen warlord;
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a clear indication as to the goals of the two week-old invasion for the first time last night, saying he wanted to create a buffer zone for his country. 

Lithuania has today started building a military base that will accommodate up to 4,000 German troops once it's completed by the end of 2027.

It will be the first permanent foreign deployment for the German military since the end of the Second World War.

Lithuania's chief of defence, Raimundas Vaiksnoras, estimated it would spend more than a billion euros building the base over the next three years.

Amid fears Russia could eventually decide to invade other neighbouring countries, Mr Vaiksnoras said it would give "reassurance to our population and as deterrence, to push the Russians out".

The base will be located near the capital Vilnius, which is about 150 miles from the Russian border and 12 miles from Belarus, a staunch supporter of the Kremlin.

German defence minister Boris Pistorius compared the posting of 4,000 troops to allied forces being stationed in West Germany during the Cold War - a move that was also designed to defend Europe in the case of a Soviet attack.

Russia says it is banning 32 experts and employees at British thinktanks.

Moscow has accused them of pushing an anti-Russian line in Western policy circles, Reuters reports. 

People on the list of those banned, which has been published on the Russian foreign ministry's website, have also been accused of spreading disinformation designed to discredit Moscow. 

We told you earlier that Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, was visiting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine later this week. 

We now have a little bit more detail on Mr Modi's visit to Kyiv, scheduled for 23 August.

The Ukrainian presidential office said on Telegram that the two leaders would discuss the countries' relations and multilateral cooperation.

"This is the first visit of the head of the Indian government to our country in the history of bilateral relations", the office added.

Ukraine claims to be making advances after launching a shock invasion into Russia's Kursk border region, in a move which has embarrassed Vladimir Putin's top military brass.

Readers have been sending in their questions to our senior correspondents and military experts for their take on the latest developments.

Today, Jane in Shropshire asks:

What is success for Ukraine in their invasion into Russia?

Our  security and defence analyst Michael Clarke says:

This incursion is, by definition, a temporary military manoeuvre, designed to put pressure on Russian strategy and gain some military leverage.

It will end when the coming battle of Kursk has reached a point where Ukrainian forces judge that they can still leave the pocket without being too badly mauled by Russian forces, who will be trying to cut them off from their escape route back into Ukraine. 

But that point may be some weeks away.

Success and failure will be an essentially political judgement: did Ukraine's Kursk offensive relieve Russian military pressure elsewhere - particularly in the Donbas around Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, Niu York and Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces are under real pressure? Did it increase support for Kyiv in the West? Did it affect the mood around Putin and the confidence in the Kremlin that they would win this war sooner or later?  

Those will be the metrics by which this bold initiative will eventually be judged.

Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman says there has been "no change" in the UK's position on Ukraine using Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia's borders.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to use the missiles to attack targets deep inside Russia that could speed up the end of the war.

But Britain, along with other Western governments, have so far rebuffed Kyiv's requests amid fears of escalation.  

Asked about Storm Shadow missiles and whether Ukraine is permitted to use them in Kursk as part of its push into Russia, a No 10 spokesman said: "We are providing military aid to support Ukraine's clear right to self-defence."

Asked about discussions between the UK and overseas partners, including the US and France, the spokesperson added: "We also have an ongoing dialogue with our allies about a co-ordinated effort between us all to do the same thing and be united in our support for Ukraine.

"So, more broadly, yes, there are conversations always happening between ourselves."

Civilians in Pokrosvk in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region have just a week or two to flee their homes as Russian troops make rapid gains, a Ukrainian official has said.

A key target city for Moscow, fighting around Pokrovsk remains the heaviest in eastern Ukraine.

Several clashes were reported in the area last week as Kyiv pushed on with its shock invasion of Russia's Kursk border region.

Serhiy Dobriak, the head of Pokrovsk's military administration, said residents should leave as quickly as they can.

They have "a week or two, no more", he told Radio Liberty's Ukrainian Service.

He said authorities have capacity to evacuate at least 1,000 people per day, but only around half that amount is currently leaving.

Some 53,000 people, including nearly 4,000 children, remain in the city.

More than 121,000 people have been evacuated from nine border districts in Kursk, Russian media is reporting, citing the country's emergencies ministry.

Ukrainian troops launched a cross-border invasion into the region nearly two weeks ago, in a move that shocked Vladimir Putin and his top military leaders and left them struggling to push Kyiv's forces back.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier that he was briefed by his top military commander that Ukraine was achieving its goals in Kursk.

Kyiv predicts Moscow will have around 200,000 extra forces in Ukraine by the end of the year, according to a report.

Forbes Ukraine cited deputy defence minister Ivan Havryliuk as saying some 800,000 Russian troops were expected in the country by the end of 2024.

Currently, there are around 600,000 soldiers in occupied areas of Ukraine, he said.

Analysts at the Royal United Services Institute say Russian forces have been expanding in size despite suffering heavy casualties, and the Kremlin believes it can sustain the "current rate of attrition" through 2025.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free