French President Emmanuel Macron to Visit China

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron will pay a state visit to China from April 5 to 7, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Monday, as reported by Xinhua.

French President Emmanuel Macron is jetting off on an ambitious diplomatic mission to woo Beijing away from Moscow. Officials in Washington wish him luck with that, as reported by Politico.

France hopes to dissuade China’s leader Xi Jinping from getting any cozier with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and wants the Chinese instead to play a mediation role over the war in Ukraine.

However, it is unclear what leverage Macron has — and the backdrop to his three-day trip starting Tuesday isn’t easy. Europe continues to reel from the impact of cutting off trade ties to Russia and geopolitical tensions are ratcheting up between China and the U.S., the world’s two biggest economies.