Sawt Falasteen - France's Macron meets Xi for Ukraine, trade talks

Macron and his wife Brigitte were given a grand welcome by Xi and his partner Peng Liyuan to the Great Hall of the People, where the ceremony was moved indoors due to cold weather.

Macron blew kisses to children who held flowers and welcomed the president, while a band played the national anthems of both countries.

The French president, who is visiting China for the fourth time since taking office in 2017, is also expected to meet with Premier Li Qiang before travelling to Chengdu, where two giant pandas loaned to France were recently returned.

Macron has sought to pressure Xi to help secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, as the war with Russia drags into a fourth winter.

"We are counting on China, like us a permanent member of the Security Council... to lean on Russia, so that Russia and, in particular, Vladimir Putin can finally agree to a ceasefire," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said this week.

China regularly calls for peace talks and respect for the territorial integrity of all countries, but has never condemned Russia for its 2022 invasion.

Western governments accuse Beijing of providing Russia with crucial economic support for its war effort, notably by supplying it with military components for its defence industry.

The French presidency said Macron will tell Xi that China must "refrain from providing any means, by any means, to Russia to continue the war".

His three-day visit to Beijing follows a trip to Paris by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who urged Europe to stand by Kyiv as US President Donald Trump pushes a plan to end the war.

"We share the view that the war must be brought to a fair end," Zelensky wrote on social media after Monday's talks with Macron, which also included phone calls with other European leaders.

- Trade talks -

Macron is also due to discuss trade with his Chinese hosts, with the European Union facing a massive trade deficit of $357 billion with the Asian powerhouse.

"It is necessary for China to consume more and export less... and for Europeans to save less and produce more," an adviser to Macron said.

Macron has previously called for the European Union to reduce its dependence on China and for a "European preference" in the tech sector.

Last month, he told a European summit of tech leaders and ministers from across the continent that the bloc does not want to be a "vassal" to US and Chinese tech companies.

The French president will stay in China until Friday, with a final stop in Chengdu in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Last week, two giant pandas loaned to France by China were flown to their ancestral home to retire at an animal sanctuary in the city.

The Chinese embassy promised new bears would soon be dispatched to make up for the popular pair leaving.

The Chengdu visit is "quite exceptional in Chinese protocol", the French presidency said, adding it was "appreciated as such" by Macron.

During his last trip to China, the French president was given a rock star welcome at a university in the southern city of Guangzhou, with students chanting his name and scrambling for selfies and high-fives.

U.AlSharif--SF-PST