Macron hosts Xi in Paris: 'Difficult discussions behind closed doors' to come
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00:00Beijing is likely to defend its view on overcapacity. For the Chinese leadership,
00:05industrial overproduction isn't unfair, it's just side effects of a growing
00:09economy. But this is likely to fall on deaf ears as Emmanuel Macron has been a
00:13staunch supporter of Brussels' anti-subsidy probes and has been eager
00:18to correct the trade imbalance between France and China. Chinese state media
00:22meanwhile have also been very quick to applaud Macron's a vision for strategic
00:26autonomy. If Paris sees it as a way to defend Europe's interests first, Beijing
00:31sees it as a way to drive a wedge between Brussels and Washington. But if
00:36Xi Jinping fails to understand just how important Ukraine is to French and to
00:40European interests, well that conversation will also remain very
00:44difficult. So you can expect a lot of pomp and pageantry, some pleasant walks
00:48in public in front of the TV cameras, promises to deepen cultural and
00:53scientific people-to-people ties between the two countries and some very
00:57very difficult discussions behind closed doors. Indeed, if Beijing sees a Berlin
01:02as the economic powerhouse of the EU, it sees Paris as the political one and
01:07Xi Jinping's visit to France comes as the EU-China relationship enters a new,
01:12far more rockier and potentially more confrontational era.