Emmanuel Macron thanks Xi Jinping for his commitment not to sell arms to Russia

Xi is in France for his first European tour in five years. The two-day visit will be followed by stops in Serbia and Hungary.

In Paris, Ukraine was high on the agenda. European officials say dual-use goods, such as microchips and satellite imaging equipment, help fuel Moscow's war machine.

Macron also thanked Xi for supporting his idea of ​​an Olympic truce that would see a pause in all global conflicts during the Paris Olympics in July and August.

Xi, in comments cited by Xinhua, warned against China-bashing over Ukraine.

We oppose using the Ukraine crisis to shift blame, smear a third country and incite a new Cold War, Xi said, as both leaders made statements.

Xi said China does not look at the fire from the sidelines and we have always played a positive role in achieving peace.

Earlier in the day, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who took part in a trilateral meeting with the two national leaders, said more efforts were needed to reduce the delivery of goods to Russia. dual-use that find themselves on the battlefield.

On trade issues, Macron also appears to be gaining ground on Xi. In a nod to a developing dispute, he gave Xi two bottles of cognac, a Louis XIII de Rémy Martin and a Hennessy XO, and thanked him for his open attitude toward the trade investigation from Beijing on exports of high-end alcohol to China.

Beijing's anti-dumping investigation is seen as a response to a European Union investigation into subsidies in China's electric vehicle sector, an investigation Macron strongly supports.

“I thank the president for his open attitude regarding the interim measures on cognac,” Macron said, as the leaders made statements to the press, on the first day of Xi's first European state visit in five years.

Macron also gave Xi a copy of the first French-Chinese dictionary and rare volumes of Victor Hugo. In exchange, he received a stuffed bird, a painting and some books in French published in China.

The exchanges came at a tense time for trade relations between the EU and China, with some speculating the powers were on the brink of a trade war.

European leaders have denounced what they describe as overcapacity in China's manufacturing sector. They believe that there is not enough demand in China to absorb the volume of high-tech products produced there, and that these products will be exported en masse to the bloc at discounted prices, endangering the local producers.

Von der Leyen warned that Europe would not hesitate to make the difficult decisions necessary to protect its economy and security, adding that Brussels was ready to use the trade weapons at its disposal to counter Beijing's policies.

At Monday's trilateral meeting, Xi rejected these claims, saying China's overcapacity problem does not exist.

As leaders raised glasses of champagne at the start of a state banquet, the Elysée began publishing details of intergovernmental agreements reached during the day.

A 10-point statement was issued on the Middle East, just after it was announced that Hamas officials had approved a ceasefire deal for Gaza proposed by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. In this statement, Macron and Xi expressed their opposition to an Israeli offensive on Rafah, which would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe on a new scale.

An agreement on artificial intelligence underlined the importance of strengthening international cooperation in the context of rapid technological development to guarantee international security and stability, sovereignty and respect for fundamental rights.

On the sidelines of a business conference linked to Xi's visit, Chinese and French companies also announced a series of agreements.

These include an agreement between Frances Orano and China's Xiamen Tungsten New Energy to forge a global strategic partnership in the battery industry, and a memorandum of understanding between France's Fives and China's Envision to cooperate in the assembly of battery cells in France.

BYD and the Chinese automobile industry are welcome in France

A long list of Chinese companies were invited to this part of the summit, some of which were in the crosshairs of European regulators. They included telecommunications giants Huawei Technologies and ZTE, as well as railway equipment supplier CRRC.

One notable absentee was BYD, the Chinese electric vehicle maker. Earlier in the day, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the country was open to Chinese investments in the electric vehicle sector, including those from BYD.

France welcomes all industrial projects. BYD and the Chinese auto industry are welcome in France, Le Maire told a gathering of auto sector executives.

On the trade front, China agreed to open its market to French exports of pork offal and processed pork proteins, while the two sides agreed to intensify exchanges on the opening of China's cosmetics markets. to French companies, in a nod to a long-standing European economic problem.

Further declarations were signed on biodiversity and agriculture, while a series of cultural exchanges were agreed. Under one such deal, China Media Group, the state-owned parent company of television network CGTN, became a major partner of Sunny Side of the Doc, an annual documentary film festival held in the French city of La Rochelle.