The French president and the European Commission head are in China, to dissuade China from supporting Russia's war in Ukraine. China has called for peace but steered clear of condemning Russia's invasion.French President Emmanuel Macron had peace in Ukraine on the agenda during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday during a three-day state visit to Beijing.

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"I know I can count on you to bring Russia to its senses and everyone to the negotiating table," the French head of state told Xi during their bilateral meeting.

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Xi, afterwards, hailed China's close ties with France as the world undergoes "profound historical changes."

The French president met Xi separately before a three-way talk with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

She was also expected to press the Chinese president on his ties with Russia.

While China has called for a peaceful resolution to the war, it has steered clear of condemning Russia's invasion of its neighbor.

Last month, Xi visited Moscow and held long talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which the two leaders celebrated their "close ties."

In a telling contrast, Xi has so far not even spoken on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Strengthening EU-China ties

The visit comes as Europe and China strive to overcome growing differences in recent years, ranging from technological competition to the situation in Taiwan and China's growing closeness to Russia despite the war in Ukraine.

Ahead of the visit, Macron said he wants to "be a voice that unites Europe" over Ukraine.

China, meanwhile, hopes the visit will help avert the kind of deterioration in relations that has been seen between it and the United States. Beijing sees Washington as leading efforts to contain its economic rise, with an exchange of accusations on both sides in recent months.

However, Europe's strong economic ties to China mean it has been forced to perform a balancing act with Beijing.

During a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang Macron stressed the importance of dialogue between China and France "in these troubled times."

This consideration of economic interests did not stop von der Leyen from giving a warning to Beijing in Brussels last week, saying, "How China continues to interact with Putin's war will be a determining factor for EU-China relations going forward."

"Macron's visit is expected to produce concrete results in furthering economic and trade cooperation between China and France, as well as to increase political mutual trust," Chinese state media outlet Global Times wrote in an editorial on Thursday.

lo,rmt/rc (AFP, Reuters)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 06, 2023 02:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).