Macron, von der Leyen press China's Xi on trade in Paris talks.🔊 Listen to thisFrench President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to ensure more balanced trade with Europe as the three met in Paris on Monday at the start of Xi’s two-day visit.
Macron’s official gifts for Xi included cognac by LVMH-owned Hennessey and Remy Cointreau, which are among the French companies affected by China’s retaliatory anti-dumping brandy investigation. The European Union “cannot absorb massive over-production of Chinese industrial goods flooding its market,” she said.
During their talks, held behind closed doors, Xi agreed that economic and trade frictions should be addressed through dialogue, Chinese state media said. “We need to be forward-looking and work together for an equal and orderly multi-polar world,” Xi said, calling on Macronto joining him in opposing “decoupling” China’s supply chains and other economies.French diplomatic sources said Xi seemed receptive to concerns about trade imbalances, adding that the objective of the visit was to get messages across. Whether any action would follow remained to be seen, the sources said.