Xi is making a state visit to France marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between France and China. The trip is his first to Europe since 2019 and will also see him visit Serbia and Hungary later in the week.
But Xi’s choice of France as the sole major European power on his itinerary indicates the importance the leader of the one-party Communist state of more than 1.4 billion people accords to Macron as an EU powerbroker over two years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Xi and Macron are to hold a day of talks in Paris on Monday from 0830 GMT — also including EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen for a morning trilateral meeting — followed by a state banquet hosted by Macron at the Elysee.