Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beijing carrying Europe's collective anxiety about a war it cannot end alone — seeking, once again, to persuade Xi Jinping that China's influence over Russia is not merely an asset but a moral responsibility. The visit is his fourth to China as president, and it arrives at a moment when American peace proposals are raising fears in European capitals that Ukraine may be pressed into concessions it cannot survive. Behind the diplomatic pageantry of pandas and university crowds lies a harder question: whether China, which has never condemned Russia's invasion, can be mo
Macron in China to press Xi on Ukraine ceasefire and trade imbalance
China can play a crucial role in guiding Putin to make the right decision
Mark
So Macron is asking China to pressure Russia on Ukraine. Has that ever worked before?
Mimi
Not really. He's made the same ask in 2023 and again in 2024. China keeps saying it wants peace, but it hasn't condemned the invasion and Western governments say it's actually helping Russia economically.
Mark
Then why go again? What's different now?
Mimi
Trump's peace plan. European leaders are worried it will force Ukraine to give up territory. If that happens, they need China to have been part of the conversation—or at least to have heard directly from Macron that there's a cost to staying silent.
Luke
But here's the thing—we don't actually know what China's calculation is. Is Beijing staying quiet because it wants to help Russia, or because it genuinely doesn't think it has leverage over Putin? Those are very different problems.
Mimi
Fair point. And the trade deficit issue is separate but real—$357 billion a year. That's structural, not something one visit fixes.
Mark
Does Macron have any actual leverage with Xi?
Mimi
Not much. China's economy is larger, and Russia is a useful counterweight to American power. The pandas and the university crowds are nice, but they're theater.
Luke
The reporting doesn't tell us what Xi actually said in previous meetings, or what his red lines are. We're seeing Macron's ask, not China's answer.
Mark
So this visit is really about Macron being able to say he tried?
Mimi
Partly. But it's also about keeping the diplomatic door open and making sure China hears directly that Europe sees this as serious. Sometimes that matters even if nothing changes immediately.
Luke
And we won't know if it mattered until much later—if at all.
El Pulso
- European alarm is mounting that Trump's peace framework could force Ukraine to cede territory, making Chinese leverage over Putin suddenly more urgent than ever.
- Macron is pressing Xi to use China's UN Security Council seat and its deep economic ties with Moscow to push Russia toward a ceasefire — a plea France has made before, without result.
- The EU accuses Beijing of quietly sustaining Russia's war machine through military components and economic support, even as China publicly calls for peace talks.
- Macron is demanding China 'refrain from providing any means to Russia to continue the war' — a direct confrontation with Beijing's carefully maintained ambiguity.
- A $357 billion annual trade deficit looms alongside the Ukraine question, reminding both sides that their relationship is as much about economic rivalry as diplomatic alignment.
- The visit ends in Chengdu — a gesture of Chinese protocol and panda diplomacy — underscoring how warmth and intractability can coexist in the same relationship.
Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beijing carrying Europe's collective anxiety about a war it cannot end alone — seeking, once again, to persuade Xi Jinping that China's influence over Russia is not merely an asset but a moral responsibility. The visit is his fourth to China as president, and it arrives at a moment when American peace proposals are raising fears in European capitals that Ukraine may be pressed into concessions it cannot survive. Behind the diplomatic pageantry of pandas and university crowds lies a harder question: whether China, which has never condemned Russia's invasion, can be moved to help stop it.
Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beijing on Wednesday evening for his fourth state visit to China as French president, carrying an appeal that has grown more urgent with each repetition: that Xi Jinping must use China's influence over Vladimir Putin to push Russia toward a ceasefire in Ukraine. The timing was deliberate. Days earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned European leaders in Paris that Donald Trump's emerging peace plan risks forcing Kyiv to accept Russian demands — a prospect that has sharpened European anxiety and narrowed the diplomatic options available to the continent.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot framed the ask directly before the visit: China, as a permanent UN Security Council member, must lean on Russia and guide Putin toward the right decision. But Macron has made nearly identical appeals before — during a 2023 trip to Beijing and again when Xi visited France in 2024 — and neither produced measurable movement. China's position has remained consistent: it calls for peace and respect for territorial integrity, but has never condemned Russia's 2022 invasion. Western governments go further, accusing Beijing of serving as an economic lifeline for Russia's war effort, supplying military components and financial support that allow Moscow to sustain the conflict. Macron intended to challenge this directly, telling Xi that China must stop providing Russia with any means to continue the war.
The visit also addressed the EU's $357 billion annual trade deficit with China — a structural imbalance that no single meeting can resolve but that shapes every dimension of the relationship. A Macron adviser put the problem plainly: China must consume more and export less, while Europeans must save less and produce more.
Macron remained in China through Friday, with a final stop in Chengdu — a gesture the French presidency described as exceptional in Chinese protocol. The city is home to a sanctuary where two giant pandas on loan to France recently returned to retire, with a Chinese official promising new pandas would soon arrive in France. The warmth of such gestures — and the rock star reception Macron received from students in Guangzhou during his last visit — exists in quiet tension with the harder reality: that China has little obvious incentive to move on Ukraine, and Europe is running short of ways to change that calculus.
Emmanuel Macron landed in Beijing on Wednesday evening with a familiar but urgent mission: convince China's leader Xi Jinping to use his influence over Russia and push Vladimir Putin toward ending the war in Ukraine. The French president touched down at around 5:10 pm local time for what amounts to his fourth state visit to China since taking office in 2017, carrying with him the weight of European anxiety about American peace proposals that many fear will force Ukraine to surrender territory.
Macron's timing matters. Just days earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had visited Paris, where he warned European leaders that Donald Trump's plan to end the war risks pressuring Kyiv into accepting Russian demands. The French president is now attempting to activate what leverage remains—China's permanent seat on the UN Security Council and its outsized economic relationship with Moscow. "We are counting on China, like us a permanent member of the Security Council, to lean on Russia, so that Russia and, in particular, Vladimir Putin can finally agree to a ceasefire," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said before the visit. "China can play a crucial role in guiding Vladimir Putin's Russia to make the right decision."
But this is not new ground. Macron made nearly identical appeals during a trip to China in April 2023 and again when Xi visited France in May 2024. Neither produced measurable results. China has built a careful diplomatic posture around the war: it regularly calls for peace talks and respect for territorial integrity, but it has never condemned Russia's 2022 invasion. More pointedly, Western governments accuse Beijing of being a crucial economic lifeline for Russia's war machine, supplying military components for Russia's defense industry and providing the kind of economic support that allows Moscow to sustain its military effort. The French presidency made clear that Macron intends to directly challenge this dynamic, telling Xi that China must "refrain from providing any means, by any means, to Russia to continue the war."
The visit extends beyond Ukraine. Macron and his hosts will also tackle the European Union's staggering trade deficit with China—$357 billion annually. A Macron adviser framed the problem plainly: "It is necessary for China to consume more and export less… and for Europeans to save less and produce more." These are structural imbalances that no single visit can resolve, but they reflect the kind of economic friction that shapes great-power relations.
Macron is accompanied by his wife Brigitte and will remain in China through Friday, with a final leg to Chengdu in southwestern Sichuan province. The Chengdu stop carries symbolic weight. Two giant pandas loaned to France by China were recently returned to their ancestral home to retire at a sanctuary there. Before they left, a Chinese embassy official promised that new pandas would soon arrive in France. The French presidency described the Chengdu visit as "quite exceptional in Chinese protocol," a diplomatic courtesy that signals respect even as the two sides navigate fundamental disagreements. During his last visit, Macron received what amounted to a rock star welcome at a university in Guangzhou, with students chanting his name and pressing forward for selfies. The pageantry of these visits—the pandas, the enthusiastic crowds—exists in tension with the harder work of trying to move Beijing on matters where China has little incentive to move.
Citas Notables
We are counting on China, like us a permanent member of the Security Council, to lean on Russia, so that Russia and, in particular, Vladimir Putin can finally agree to a ceasefire.— French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot
It is necessary for China to consume more and export less… and for Europeans to save less and produce more.— An adviser to Macron, on trade imbalances
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