With lamb and cheese, Macron tried to charm China's Xi in the Pyrenees
Macron aimed to convince Xi to reduce the trade imbalance
Xi said he would welcome more high-level talks on trade but denies Chinese 'overcapacity problem'
European diplomat says Xi was the 'winner' of the visit
Xi travels on to Serbia, Hungary
Adds Xi leaving France, edits throughout
By Elizabeth Pineau, Bart Biesemans and Ingrid Melander
TARBES, France, May 7 (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping left France on Tuesday after a two-day trip during which heoffered no major concessions on trade or foreign policy, even asPresident Emmanuel Macron pressed him on market access and Ukraine.
Macron and his wife Brigitte waved goodbye toXi and his wife Peng Liyuan at the airport in France's southwestern Pyrenees region, after taking themto lunch in the mountains following a day of talks and state pomp in Paris on Monday.
A source close to the French presidency said the trip allowed for "friendly and very frank talks" that allowed Macron to pass on messages on Ukraine and would allow for more open talks in the future.
Macron has a history of trying to establish personal relationships outside of protocol in not always successful attempts to obtain more from other leaders.
After watching traditional dancers perform under the snowy peaks, the two presidential couples ate locally grown ham, lamb, cheese and blueberry pie. Xi said he would give the ham some publicity and praised the cheese.
Macron gave Xi a woollen blanket made in the Pyrenees, a Tour de France cycling jersey and armagnac from the nearby southwestern region - a brandy at risk of Chinese trade sanctions.
Macron pressed Xi throughout his visit toreduce the trade imbalance, with better access for European firms in China and fewer subsidies for Chinese exporters, and to weigh on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine.
Xi said he would welcome more high-level talks on trade frictions but denied there was a Chinese "overcapacity problem", casting doubts on what progress can be achieved.
French and Chinese companies concluded some agreements on Monday ranging from energy, finance and transport, but most were agreements to cooperate or renewed commitments to work together.
"Xi was consistent in signalling goodwill to (his) French interlocutors but did not come with tangible concessions on the issues that matter the most," said Mathieu Duchatel of the Institut Montaigne think-tank.
WINNER?
In a sign of some progress on agriculture, China will allow imports of pig origin protein feed as well as pork offal from France with immediate effect. French pork producers said the offal deal should boost pork exports by 10%.
However,European hopes of an Airbus plane order to coincide with Xi's visit appear to have been dashed, with the two sides agreeing only to expand cooperation.
A European diplomat said Xi was the "winner" of the visit, having "cemented his image as the 'ruler of the world' where Westerners are begging him to solve European problems in Ukraine".
Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of the Brussels-based ECIPE think tank, said the visit was possibly less about making concrete progress on trade than creating some policy space they might need if Donald Trump returns to the White House after November's U.S. election.
MACRON STYLE
Macron has embraced, hugged, winked at or slapped counterparts on the back. He did not chance this with Xi.
The two couples travelled on separate flights from Paris and took separate cars to the mountains, where thick fog meant they missed out on the view.
Xi's Pyrenees invite nevertheless hadechoes of Trump joining Macron in 2017 to watch the Bastille Day parade, and Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2019 trip to the French president's Bregancon fortress summer retreat in southeast France.
"Emmanuel Macron attempted this narcissistic diplomacy of 'I flatter the tyrant' with Vladimir Putin for five years, with the Bregancon fort ... the camaraderie," Raphael Glucksmann, who leads the French Socialists' European Parliament ticket, told RTL radio.
"And all that ended with what, the invasion of Ukraine and the threats to our democracies."
The EU's 27 members ran a goods trade deficit of 292 billion euros ($314.72 billion) with China in 2023, according to Eurostat data, down from a 397 billion-eurodeficit a year earlier but still the second-highestever level.
French cognac makers rallied on Tuesday as Xi presented what Macron described as an "open attitude" towards a trade dispute between the two countries.
A French diplomatic source said China would not impose taxes or customs duties on French cognac, pending the investigation. Xi did not comment on this during his many public statements on Monday.
Xi travels later on Tuesday to Serbia.
Reporting by Bart Biesemans in Tarbes, Elizabeth Pineau, Tassilo Hummel, Tim Hepher, John Irish, Leigh Thomas, Ingrid Melander, Dominique Patton, in Paris, Phil Blenkinsop in Brussels, Laurie Chen in Beijing, Piotr Lipinski in Gdansk, Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Alison Williams, Nick Macfie and Sharon Singleton
Relaterade tillgångar
Senaste nytt
Ansvarsfriskrivning: XM Group-enheter tillhandahåller sin tjänst enbart för exekvering och tillgången till vår onlinehandelsplattform, som innebär att en person kan se och/eller använda tillgängligt innehåll på eller via webbplatsen, påverkar eller utökar inte detta, vilket inte heller varit avsikten. Denna tillgång och användning omfattas alltid av i) villkor, ii) riskvarningar och iii) fullständig ansvarsfriskrivning. Detta innehåll tillhandahålls därför uteslutande som allmän information. Var framför allt medveten om att innehållet på vår onlinehandelsplattform varken utgör en uppmaning eller ett erbjudande om att ingå några transaktioner på de finansiella marknaderna. Handel på alla finansiella marknader involverar en betydande risk för ditt kapital.
Allt material som publiceras på denna sida är enbart avsett för utbildnings- eller informationssyften och innehåller inte – och ska inte heller anses innehålla – rådgivning och rekommendationer om finansiella frågor, investeringsskatt eller handel, dokumentation av våra handelskurser eller ett erbjudande om, eller en uppmaning till, en transaktion i finansiella instrument eller oönskade finansiella erbjudanden som är riktade till dig.
Tredjepartsinnehåll, liksom innehåll framtaget av XM såsom synpunkter, nyheter, forskningsrön, analyser, kurser, andra uppgifter eller länkar till tredjepartssajter som återfinns på denna webbplats, tillhandahålls i befintligt skick, som allmän marknadskommentar, och utgör ingen investeringsrådgivning. I den mån som något innehåll tolkas som investeringsforskning måste det noteras och accepteras att innehållet varken har varit avsett som oberoende investeringsforskning eller har utarbetats i enlighet med de rättsliga kraven för att främja ett sådant syfte, och därför är att betrakta som marknadskommunikation enligt tillämpliga lagar och föreskrifter. Se till så att du har läst och förstått vårt meddelande om icke-oberoende investeringsforskning och riskvarning om ovannämnda information, som finns här.
