French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Canton (south) on Friday where he will meet Chinese students before a dinner with his counterpart Xi Jinping, on the last day of his state visit to China where the conflict in Ukraine dominated discussions.
The head of state was greeted by a veritable crowd upon his arrival at Sun Yat-sen University, many people brandishing their cell phones in the hope of a selfie with him.
He must then speak in front of several hundred students, gathered in the campus gymnasium, and answer their questions.
This university, one of the most prestigious in the country, has partnerships with 24 French establishments including the Ecole Normale Supérieure, the Lyon School of Management and the University of Angers.
It is also associated with a consortium of engineering schools within the framework of the Franco-Chinese Institute for Nuclear Energy.
This trip to Canton comes on the third day of a state visit during which President Macron called on his Chinese counterpart on Thursday, during a bilateral meeting, to “bring Russia to its senses” vis-à-vis from Ukraine.
Also present for a trilateral meeting that followed, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen warned that “arming the aggressor would go against international law and it would significantly harm our relationship”.
Xi Jinping also said he was ready to call his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, as the latter hopes, we were assured on the French side, even if he specified that he would do so when he has himself chosen. A gesture of openness which remains to be confirmed but deemed “positive” by the European leader.
In recent weeks, international pressure has mounted a notch on China to encourage it to get involved in the search for peace.
On Thursday, however, the Kremlin ruled out the possibility of Chinese mediation to stop the fighting, because “the situation with Ukraine is complex, there are no prospects for a political settlement”.
At the end of his meeting with Chinese students, Mr. Macron will have dinner with Xi Jinping, then will meet in the evening with two Chinese investors: Tang Jiexiong, president of the Wencan group, then Jiang Long, general manager of XTC New Energy Materials .
Wencan is a high-pressure foundry group for the automotive industry, specializing in the manufacture of aluminum spare parts, while XTC New Energy Materials specializes in the production of materials for lithium batteries used in particular for electric vehicles.
07/04/2023 10:09:02 – Canton (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
