It's a first in five years. The President of the world's second-largest economic power, Xi Jinping, had not broken European soil since 2019. The Chinese leader has just completed a visit to the Old Continent on his way to France, but also to Serbia and Hungary.
On 6 and 7 May, during the 60 years of diplomatic relations between Beijing and Paris, the Chinese President met with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, but also with the President of the European Commission, Ursula van der Leyen. Both called on China not to contribute to the Russian war effort, including by reducing the delivery of dual-use goods, and to use its influence on Vladimir Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine. On this point, the Chinese President reiterated his willingness to remain neutral.
The numerous differences between the European Union and China were also mentioned: the difficult access to the Chinese market for French and European industrialists, the industrial overcapacity of the Middle Empire, and the practices considered unfair by Beijing. In recent months, Brussels has increased investigations against China, accused of favouring its companies and distorting competition through state subsidies in many sectors (electric vehicles, solar panels, wind power, railways and medical equipment). In retaliation, Beijing launched a survey in January on subsidies for European brandies, a decision that strikes Paris with full force since French cognac and armagnac represent almost all of this type of EU exports. At the time of his visit, Xi Jinping told President Macron that he did not wish to see these interim measures applied to French cognac. It remains to be seen whether the investigation will continue, as the industry fears the lifting of prohibitive tariffs, which could put an end to a large market (more than 30 million bottles in 2023 corresponding to a turnover of 769 million euros).

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• Sales Administration (SDA) Subcontracting Export
• Import/export flow management (air & maritime)
• Diagnosis of international logistics flows

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