2023 France–China Summit
The 2023 France–China summit was a three-day state visit by Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, to China from April 5 to 7, 2023. It was Macron's first visit to China since the COVID-19 pandemic and his third since taking office in 2017. He was accompanied by a delegation of more than 50 CEOs and met with the French business community in China. He also met with Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China, and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, to discuss various issues, especially the ongoing war in Ukraine and China's potential role as a mediator between Russia and the West. The visit was seen as an attempt to "reconnect" with China after three years of its zero-Covid policy and despite Beijing's increasing benevolence to Russia in the context of the war.

Background
Macron had visited China twice before, in January 2018 and November 2019. During his first visit, he announced a "comprehensive strategic partnership" between France and China and signed several agreements on trade, climate change, nuclear energy and culture. He also presented Xi with a horse named Vesuvius as a gift. During his second visit, he attended the China International Import Expo in Shanghai and met with Xi in Beijing. He also invited Xi to visit France for the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2024. However, since then, the relations between China and France, as well as between China and the European Union, have been strained by several factors. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, which was first identified in China, led to Beijing effectively shutting its borders to travel and imposing strict quarantine measures on incoming visitors. This hampered the exchange of people and goods between China and other countries, including France.

Human rights
Macron and von der Leyen also raised the issue of human rights during their visit, amid growing international criticism of China's repression of ethnic minorities, political dissidents, and civil society activists. They expressed their concerns over the situation in Xinjiang, where the Chinese government has detained an estimated one million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in re-education camps, subjected them to forced labor, surveillance, and genocide. They also urged China to respect the autonomy and freedoms of Hong Kong, where Beijing has imposed a national security law that has been used to crack down on pro-democracy protests and media outlets. Furthermore, they called for the release of several prominent individuals who have been imprisoned or persecuted for their peaceful activities, such as the Uyghur economist and Sakharov Prize winner Ilham Tohti, the Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, and the Tibetan language activist Tashi Wangchuk.

Macron and von der Leyen's stance on human rights was welcomed by several civil society groups and human rights organizations, who had urged them to make human rights a priority during their visit. Macron “must strongly denounce privately but also publicly the repression against Chinese activists and human rights advocates, Hong Kong’s people, Uyghurs and Tibetans,” France's Human Rights League President Patrick Baudouin said in a statement. However, the Chinese government rejected any interference in its internal affairs and accused the Western countries of double standards and hypocrisy. Xi told Macron and von der Leyen that China is committed to protecting human rights according to its own national conditions and development stage, and that China opposes any attempts to politicize or weaponize human rights issues.

Trade relations
French business leaders, including Airbus and Alstom officials, accompanied Macron to the summit in China. Plans for a new Airbus assembly line in China were announced by Macron during the summit.

See also
 2023 Brazil–China summit

References

2023 conferences
2023 in international relations
2023 in the European Union
2023 in France
2023 in Vietnam
2023 in Beijing
21st century in Hanoi
April 2023 events in China
History of Guangzhou
2023 Summit
China–Vietnam relations
2023 China Summit
China–European Union relations
Vietnam–European Union relations
Presidency of Emmanuel Macron
Xi Jinping