Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen display their firmness against Xi Jinping

Trade disagreements marked the start of a two-day state visit to France by Xi Jinping on Monday, who brushed aside European concerns over the firmness displayed by Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen . The head of state offered a bottle of Louis XIII cognac to his Chinese counterpart while Beijing opened an anti-dumping investigation into French cognac.

If the three leaders, gathered together in the morning at the Élysée, pretended to want to move in the same direction on the subject of the war in Ukraine, the other major issue of the moment, they did not try to hide the tensions building up on trade.

The French president explained that he wanted to raise “in all friendship and trust” the “concerns, to try to overcome them”, calling for “fair” trade rules. “The so-called “problem of China’s overcapacity” does not exist,” President Xi Jinping replied, estimating that “China’s new energy industry” on the contrary “made it possible to increase global supply.” and to alleviate the pressure of global inflation.

In front of some 200 French and Chinese business leaders gathered at the Théâtre Marigny, just behind the Élysée, Bruno Le Maire reiterated Emmanuel Macron's wish to establish a “balanced partnership”. “Let’s be clear,” declared the Minister of the Economy, “we are very far from this balance.”

And to recall France's abysmal trade deficit with China, of 46 billion euros in 2023. While the investigations launched in recent months by the European Commission to establish Chinese dumping on electric cars, solar panels or railway giant CRCC irritate Beijing, the tenant of Bercy insisted on the need for “fair rules” on “environmental, health standards and subsidies”.

Faced with the surge of “made in China” products, Bruno Le Maire invites China to “open factories in France”. Facing Luc Rémont (EDF), Jean-Pascal Tricoire (Schneider Electric, long established in Hong Kong) and Sabrina Soussan (Suez), the French minister pleaded in favor of “in-depth discussions”, “always better than threats sanctions”. In an atmosphere where Franco-Chinese friendship was highlighted, 60th anniversary of the recognition of the communist regime by de Gaulle, Jean Lemierre, the president of BNP Paribas and co-president of the Franco-Chinese Business Council which met at Théâtre Marigny did not mince words in warning that “the (bilateral) relationship is deeply threatened if the imbalances are not addressed by politicians and businesses.”

For his part, Yu Yuantang, director general for Europe at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, made no secret of the fact that the current investigations are “negative signals”. Tensions between Europe and China did not prevent around fifteen commercial agreements and partnerships from being signed on Monday, including a contract to supply electric motors for the Hefei metro between Alstom and CRRC or a strategic partnership on batteries between Xiamen Tungsten New Energy and the French Orano.