CHINA’S President Xi Jinping visited the French presidential palace today at the start of a two-day state visit that is expected to focus on trade and the war in Ukraine.

In Paris, President Xi first joined French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at a meeting meant to address broader EU concerns.

Mr Macron said in his introductory remarks that the meeting would first address trade issues and how to ensure “fair competition,” then the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Mr Macron said history was at a turning point as the Europe-China relationship is faced with challenges. 

He said the talks were aimed at sharing “both our shared positions and our concerns, to try to overcome them, because the future of our continent will very clearly also depend on our ability to develop balanced relations with China.”

In a recent speech Mr Macron denounced both Chinese and US trade practices as shoring up protections and subsidies.

At the start of the meeting in Paris, Mr Xi said: “The world today has entered a new period of turbulence and change.”

“As two important forces in the world, China and Europe should continuously make new contributions to world peace and development,” he said.

The EU launched an investigation last autumn into Chinese subsidies and could impose tariffs on electric vehicles exported from China.

“The European Union and China want good relations,” Ms von der Leyen said. “We have a substantial EU-China economic relationship. But this relationship is also challenged, for example, through state-induced overcapacity, unequal market access and over dependencies.”

The French are also using Mr Xi’s visit to help convince China to use its leverage with Moscow to contribute to a resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, according to a French presidential official. 

China has maintained a neutral stance in the war and in February last year presented a 12-point peace plan.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry at the time called for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks while urging all parties to “avoid fanning the flames and aggravating tensions.”

Western nations rejected the plan, and since then many experts have suggested Russia has effectively defeated Ukraine on the battlefield.

After his two-day visit to France, Mr Xi will head to Serbia and Hungary.