Macron urges Xi to help correct ‘unsustainable’ global trade imbalances

Xi reiterated China’s support for peace in Gaza and announced a further US$100 million in aid to the Palestinians for reconstruction, although far below the 1.6 billion euros (US$1.87 billion) the EU pledged in April for the next three years.

China’s top leader also encouraged Macron to deepen cooperation in aerospace and nuclear energy, as well as in artificial intelligence, the green economy and biopharmaceuticals.

The two leaders signed 12 cooperation agreements following their talks, covering population ageing, nuclear energy, and panda conservation, but without specifying their monetary total.

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Macron in the past has sought to project a robust European front in dealing with China, pushing Brussels to deploy protectionist counter-measures to slow the flood of subsidised Chinese goods hammering European industry.

The EU’s goods trade deficit with China has ballooned by nearly 60 per cent since 2019, while France’s trade balance with the US$19 trillion economy continues to widen.

Macron also raised European concerns with China’s move to restrict exports of critical minerals.

Beijing’s threat of new curbs on rare-earth exports to the West in October, on top of restrictions announced in April, has caused fresh panic in European car, clean energy and semiconductor sectors, all heavily dependent on them.

“It is essential to create an environment of trust and to deal with every instability risk in supply chains,” Macron said.

China is France’s seventh-largest trading partner, buying around US$35 billion in goods each year, according to Chinese customs data. About 10 per cent of those products are cosmetics, with aircraft parts and alcoholic spirits among other key exports.

For its part, France takes some US$45 billion worth of Chinese products, mostly low-value parcels through online platforms like Shein selling cheap clothes, accessories and gadgets direct from Chinese factories, thanks to an EU customs waiver on purchases below 150 euros.