French President Heads to China as Europe Seeks Balance Between Economic Reliance and Security Risks

Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron.

French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to China this week for his fourth state visit, as Europe works to balance its economic reliance on the world’s second-largest economy with growing concerns over Beijing’s security and trade policies amid deepening global market turmoil.

He will begin his visit on Wednesday with a tour of Beijing’s Forbidden City before meeting President Xi Jinping in the capital on Thursday and again on Friday in Chengdu, in Sichuan province.

His trip follows a tense July visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who described EU-China ties as being at an “inflection point”. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are both expected to visit China early next year.

European industries, particularly the steel sector, have been under mounting pressure from an influx of cheap Chinese exports, increased further after Chinese products faced restrictions in the United States. European governments are also concerned about China’s rapid advances in electric vehicle technology and its dominance in rare-earth processing, both vital for key European industries.

With U.S. tariffs disrupting global trade flows, Beijing has moved to present itself as an attractive business partner to Europe, attempting to ease concerns about its support for Russia and its state-driven industrial policies.

Before the trip, President Macron’s advisers said he would press for a “rebalancing” of trade relations, encouraging China to boost domestic consumption and calling for a fair distribution of the “gains from innovation”, including greater European access to Chinese technology.

Source: Reuters



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