According to Xinhua News Agency, on the afternoon of May 5, local time, the special plane of China's top leader arrived in Paris to start this state visit to France.
In addition to France, the Supreme Leader's itinerary also includes Hungary and Serbia, and it can be said that the visit is of a very high standard and very rare, and has attracted great attention from the international community.
In 2023, Macron made a high-profile visit to the mainland and was received by us at a high level.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, and we can see from the video of the French side when they picked up the airport that the French side also attaches great importance to this visit.
Before the Chinese plane landed, the French prime minister and a number of senior officials were already waiting at the airport, and the Chinese and French flags were hung on the streets of France early on, showing their sincerity.
Regarding the mainland's visit to France, German experts believe that Macron will mainly talk with our side on three major issues, namely European independence, economic cooperation, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
I have to say that the judgment of the German experts on this visit is quite accurate.
Both Macron and Scholz have visited the mainland before, and judging from the results of these two country visits, it seems that the Scholz team has gained a lot every time they come to China, and China is also Germany's largest trading partner.
However, Germany is not on the list for this visit to three European countries.
In fact, the reason is very simple, that is, in terms of current international influence, France is still the "representative" of the European continent.
In fact, since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Macron has positioned France in the position of European leader, repeatedly exposed shocking remarks, and even claimed that he wanted NATO to personally come to Ukraine's aid.
Not only that, but during his visit to the mainland last year, Macron repeatedly stressed that Europe should maintain its independence and not be a vassal of the United States.
At the same time, in the face of the Taiwan issue, France has not followed the steps of the United States, but has firmly supported the one-China principle, which has won the appreciation of our side.
But in the same way, although Macron positions himself as the "representative of the European continent", this status needs to be recognized by other countries outside the region, and the mainland's visit to France reflects the importance of France to the European continent and gives France enough attention and respect.
In the current era of fierce competition between China and the United States, China naturally hopes that France will participate in international affairs as an independent Western power.
The relationship between China and France has a long history, and France was the first major Western power to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and now that it has been 60 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the relationship between the two sides has become more and more important.
If under the leadership of Macron, France can maintain its independence and take into account the overall situation of China-EU relations, not only can China-France and China-EU relations achieve a win-win situation, but also avoid a "new Cold War" with China and the United States, which is a very important thing for China and France and even the whole world.
The second core issue to be discussed during the mainland's visit to France is the economic issue.
As mentioned earlier, France, as a European power, will not follow the United States in everything, but in some respects it does have common interests with the United States.
For example, in terms of the new energy industry, the output value and scale of the new energy vehicles and photovoltaic industries in the mainland far exceed those of these Western countries, dwarfing the related industries of these Western countries compared with China.
Therefore, for the purpose of protecting the new energy industry in France and the EU, Macron supports the EU's countervailing investigation of China's new energy vehicles.
But there are not only differences between the two countries, but also cooperation.
According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce, in the first two months of this year, French direct investment in the mainland increased by 585.8% year-on-year.
Through this data, we can see that France is confident in the economic development of the mainland, and the areas of cooperation between the two countries are constantly expanding.
In addition to the above two issues, China and France also need to closely coordinate their positions on the current international and regional hotspot issues.
During his previous visit to China, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused China of exporting products to Russia that could be used in the military industry, enhancing Russia's military capabilities, and used this as a reason to sanction Chinese companies.
In the face of such groundless accusations, the mainland of course sternly refuted them.
France, as a major European country, would be a big mistake if it blindly followed the United States and used the Russia-Ukraine war as a tool to suppress China.
On the contrary, China and France should have in-depth communication on the Ukraine issue, and the French side should trust China's neutral position in the Russia-Ukraine conflict to avoid unnecessary disruption to bilateral relations.
In fact, the prospects of the current Russia-Ukraine conflict have become more and more worrisome, and both sides have reasons why they cannot afford to lose, but the United States is still constantly "transfusing blood" for Ukraine in an attempt to continue to consume Russia.
If Russia and Ukraine can bypass the United States at this time, the whole of Europe and Russia can hold a dialogue to stop the war, and establish a framework that can maintain long-term stability in Europe, it should be the best outcome of this conflict.
Unfortunately, this is not possible at the moment.
In addition to France, the top leaders of our country will also visit Hungary and Serbia.
As a member of the European Union and NATO, Hungary has repeatedly supported China in internal EU meetings.
At the same time, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is also a very pragmatic leader who always puts Hungary's national interests first in his way of looking at issues.
For example, China's CATL has invested heavily in building factories in Hungary, which has greatly promoted the development of related industries in Hungary.
As a small European country, Serbian President Vučić's name is well known to the public in our country, because under the leadership of Vučić, Serbia has been sanctioned and suppressed by the United States, but it still firmly maintains its national sovereignty and dignity.
Prior to the visit, Vučić had repeatedly said that he would greet the Chinese leader with "unprecedented specifications."
As an old friend of the Chinese people, we have also been increasing our investment in Serbia in recent years, which is not only a support for Serbia, but also an important measure to safeguard international fairness and justice.
Resources:
A number of "firsts"! The report card of Sino-French cooperation is coming—Guangming.com;
Culture, gastronomy, sports, aviation, economy and trade...... China-France relations will break the waves and move forward on a higher level of cooperation-Overseas Network;