Macron invites Xi to favourite Pyrenees holiday destination
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Emmanuel Macron will take Xi Jinping to the Pyrenean region where the French president spent time with his beloved grandmother as a child in bid to forge closer ties with the Chinese leader when he makes a state visit to France next week.
The trip on May 6 and 7, which the Elysée Palace announced on Monday, will kick off Xi’s first European tour since the Covid pandemic.
“This visit takes place on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and follows on from the president’s visit to Beijing and Guangzhou in April 2023,” Mr Macron’s office said in a statement.
Xi is expected to visit Paris and then travel to the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in south-western France.
Mr Macron often travelled there as a child to visit his maternal grandmother, Germaine Noguès, who died in 2013 and lived in Bagnères-de-Bigorre.
The Pyrenean trip was designed to create “an almost intimate moment that should seal the relationship between the two men”, according to La Dépêche, a French newspaper.
It said an 80-strong Chinese delegation recently travelled to the area on a reconnaissance mission and visited La Mongie, a ski resort Mr Macron is known to like. The paper said the French president wants to take his Chinese counterpart to the Pic du Midi, a Pyrenean mountain that is the site of an observatory that has partnerships with various countries.
Last year, Xi received Mr Macron in Guangzhou for a tea ceremony at the residence of the governor of Guangdong province, where his father, Xi Zhongxun, lived when he held this post from 1978 to 1981.
“Exchanges will focus on international crises, first and foremost the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, trade issues, scientific, cultural and sporting co-operation,” the Elysee office said.
According to the statement, Xi and Mr Macron will also discuss “joint actions to tackle global challenges, in particular the climate emergency, the protection of biodiversity and the financial situation of the most vulnerable countries”.
Beijing says it is a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict, but has been criticised for refusing to condemn Moscow for its offensive.
The United States has accused China of helping Russia carry out its biggest militarisation since Soviet times.
Next stop Hungary
After visiting France, Xi is due to visit Hungary, which has attracted a flood of major Chinese projects in recent years, mostly related to battery and electric vehicle manufacturing.
Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, has been championing an “Eastern opening” foreign policy since his return to power in 2010, seeking closer economic ties to China, Russia and other Asian countries.
