Macron, von der Leyen press China’s Xi on Ukraine, trade at Paris summit

French 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 also pressed the Chinese leader to use his influence on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, while Xi said France and China should jointly aim to prevent a "new Cold War" between global blocks, on matters including trade.

Xi arrived in Europe for the first time in five years, at a time of growing business tensions that include the European Union investigating Chinese industries such as electric vehicle exports, while Beijing probes mostly French-made brandy imports.

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.

Without giving details, Macron thanked Xi for what he described as his open attitude regarding provisional measures on cognac.

"It's through dialogue and the joint work of our teams that we can move forward," he said.


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