About fifty big bosses, artists and even… a zoo director. As Emmanuel Macron began his three-day state visit to China on Wednesday April 5, economic relations and access to the Chinese market will be an important part of the discussions. After three difficult years marked by the Covid pandemic, the stakes are high for France, which remains very dependent and consumer of Chinese productions.
According to French customs figures, in 2022, imports of Chinese products reached 77.7 billion euros (after 63 billion in 2021) out of total imports of 758.1 billion euros. China is therefore the second largest exporter to France, after Germany. From the point of view of exports, France sells in particular luxury products, cosmetics, and depends a lot on the Chinese for its tourism.
A seduction operation
On paper, Franco-Chinese trade is not doing badly, but the imbalance in the trade balance has been further reinforced over the past three years: while French exports to China have increased by 13%, imports of Chinese took off (+48%). In France, Chinese investments are also limited: they represent 3% of foreign investments in the country, and 5% of jobs created or saved, far behind France’s Western partners, according to the Business France agency, quoted by the media Asialyst.
This visit by the Head of State, accompanied by representatives of large companies including Danone, EDF, L’Oréal, Veolia, Airbus, Club Med, Safran, Orano and even BNP Paribas, will therefore be an opportunity to pursue partnerships between the two countries. Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge, for example, will be present in China to meet Bombardier teams and tour the 11 local joint ventures that he shares with Chinese companies. The Airbus company will try to surf on its mega-order of 242 aircraft signed last year with four Chinese airlines, but also to sell other A320s, while the short and medium-haul routes develop in China.
This visit should be as much akin to an operation of seduction as to a standoff on the question of Ukraine under cover of the threat of economic sanctions from the European Union in the event of the government taking a pro-Russian side. by Xi Jinping. Asked by France Info this Monday, April 3, European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton said that “we are a large continent, and an economic power […] and if (China) is an important commercial outlet for us, we are, for (it) a vital outlet”. According to him, if “for one reason or another”, the European Union were to “restrict or close (its ) internal market”, this would generate “5 to 6 points of gross domestic product (GDP) less” for China.