Macron displays his own brand of green diplomacy while visiting China

French President Emmanuel Macron is currently on a tour of China, and has taken the opportunity to stress the importance of transitioning to a sustainable and clean future.

The leader was shown on Twitter to be practising how to say ‘Make Our Planet Great Again’ in Mandarin. 

 

 

Since taking office last May, the new French president has shown renewed interest towards developing France’s role on the world stage. He also has a flair for charming world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, who witnessed a large-scale military parade during Bastille Day last year.

On Tuesday Mr. Macron met President Xi in Beijing for a range of talks, which covered global security, energy, aviation and diplomacy.

After their meeting, the two leaders also issued a joint statement, which focussed on taking action on the Paris Agreement before 2020, and on the progress of green financing.

"China stands ready to promote exchanges and enhance mutual trust and cooperation with France in order to inject new impetus into the development of the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership", said Xi.

He also called on the two countries to “deepen strategic cooperation” in areas, such as urban sustainable development and green manufacturing.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the two leaders also witnessed the signing of documents which bolstered cooperation on nuclear energy, environmental protection, and finance.

The French President has recently convened the One Planet Summit in Paris, which concentrated solely on climate finance.  At the time, Macron met a special envoy led by Chinese Vice-Premier Ma Kai, who was quoted as saying that “China is determined to honour its commitments made under the framework of the Paris Agreement”. 

Image Credit: Élysée