Xi Jinping arrives in France with Ukraine and trade conflict with the EU at the top of his agenda | China

President Xi Jinping hailed ties between China and France as a model for the international community, as he arrived in Paris for a rare visit amid growing trade disputes with the EU.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to urge Xi to reduce trade imbalances and use his influence with Russia in the Ukraine war. Xi is due to meet Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday.

Xi, who was welcomed in Paris by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, said in a statement issued upon his arrival that relations between China and France constitute a model for the international community of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries with different social systems.

In a separate opinion piece Published in the French daily Le Figaro, the Chinese president said he would come to France with three messages: that Beijing is committed to opening new perspectives in its relations with France; an ever wider opening to the world and the maintenance of global peace and stability.

While opening up, China is also encouraging Chinese companies to go global, Xi wrote. France is advancing reindustrialization based on green innovation, while China is accelerating the development of new quality productive forces.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, he wrote that China understands the repercussions of the Ukrainian crisis on the European people. He stressed that Beijing was neither party nor participant, adding that China had played a constructive role in efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

Xi's visit to Europe is the first since 2019 and will also see him visit Serbia and Hungary.

One of Macron's top priorities will be to warn Xi of the danger of supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, with Western officials concerned that Moscow is already using Chinese machine tools in weapons production .

Above all, the West wants China not to supply weapons to Russia, at the risk of tipping the scales in the conflict.

It is in our interest to make China influence the stability of the international order, Macron said in an interview with the Economist published on Thursday.

We must therefore work with China to build peace, he added.

France also supports a European Union investigation into Chinese exports of electric vehicles, and in January Beijing opened an investigation into imports of brandy mainly made in France, a move widely seen as retaliation for the EU's investigations. EU.

We want to achieve reciprocity in trade and take into account the elements of our economic security, Macron said in an interview with French newspaper La Tribune before Xi's two-day visit, his first trip to the region in five years.

Von der Leyen said on Monday she would push for fair competition with China in negotiations with Xi.

We must act to ensure that competition is fair and undistorted, she said, adding: “I have made clear that current imbalances in market access are not sustainable and must be corrected.

The European Commission, the European Union's authority on trade matters, has opened a series of competition investigations targeting China in recent months.

Beijing has reacted with fury to the most recent investigation into alleged unfair access to China's medical device market, calling it a sign of EU protectionism.

The 27 EU members, particularly France and Germany, are divided on their attitude towards China.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not join Macron and Xi in Paris due to prior commitments, sources said.

In Europe, we are not unanimous on the subject because certain actors still see China essentially as a market of opportunities, Macron said, without naming any country.

France will also seek to make progress in opening the Chinese market to its agricultural exports and resolve issues related to the French cosmetics industry's concerns over intellectual property rights, officials said.

China could announce an order for around 50 Airbus planes during Xi's visit, but it remains unclear whether it will be a new deal, sources close to the negotiations said.

On Tuesday, Macron will take Xi to the Pyrenees, a mountainous region dear to the French president as the birthplace of his maternal grandmother, before Xi visits Serbia and Hungary.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report