The Importance of France and Macron to China (Part 1)

US-scepticism, Strategic Autonomy and EU leadership

French President Emmanuel Macron has just arrived in Beijing and will be joined by the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Their three-day visit is an important one, which could have an impact not only on the future direction of EU-China relations but also on transatlantic ties.

Macron is a much-liked figure among China’s Europe watchers. He is generally represented as a well-educated, highly capable and pragmatic leader. “Macron never rejects China in his grand strategy, but rather emphasises cooperation with the PRC,” write Wu Yiwen (武亦文) and Wang Shuo (王朔), two professors at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Macron has also been praised for his reforms at home and, more recently, for standing firm in the face of France’s ongoing pension-reform protests and strikes.

Following his re-election last year, a collective of scholars from Fudan University noted that “Macron's victory is not only significant for the EU, but also key to the future direction of China-EU relations. Between Macron and Le Pen, Macron was China’s favoured candidate. In the current turmoil that has engulfed Europe and Sino-European relations, Macron can provide the leadership and vision needed to stabilise both the EU and China-EU relations.”

As I have discussed elsewhere, Macron and French foreign policy in general are seen as presenting several key attributes that are of importance to China: relative stability, a natural proclivity towards US-scepticism, a large sway over EU reforms and a presumed greater emphasis on national interests as opposed to ‘ideology’ relative to other major western countries. Put differently, France’s main appeal to China’s international relations experts is its potential role in helping prevent a further “Americanisation” of the EU’s China policy and the consolidation of a US-led bloc of countries aimed at stymying China’s economic and geopolitical rise. Strategic autonomy à la française is what China wants for Europe.