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Lucie Qian Xia

Constructed around 256 BC, Dujiangyan is the world’s oldest irrigation system that is still in use today. Long before the invention of gunpowder, the system was using natural topographic and hydrological features to divert water from the Min River for irrigation and flood control without the use of dams.
To this day, the ecological engineering feat irrigates 668,700 hectares of farmland in the Chengdu plains of southwestern China.
It was in the tranquil, lush mountains surrounding Dujiangyan that Chinese President Xi Jinping chose to conclude French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visit to China. The choice of location was intentional and highly symbolic: the engineering feat reflects the resilience and pioneering spirit of Chinese civilisation.
Like the flow of water from ancient times, Chinese civilisation is the world’s only uninterrupted great civilisation that continues to this day as a state and is uniquely characterised by its continuity, creativity and unity.
The French nation also has a glorious culture and a long history. China sees France as an emblem of Western civilisation, and the sense of being heirs to great civilisations is a source of mutual respect that undergirds Sino-French relations.
China has always appreciated and valued France for being the first major Western power to establish full diplomatic ties and ambassador-level exchanges with Beijing following French recognition of the People’s Republic in 1964. Shunning bipolar binaries, China and France should forge their relationship with civilisational confidence and continue to position their bilateral relationship as distinct from geopolitical alignments.

Rarely do Chinese presidents take foreign leaders to the provinces. Macron’s visit to southwestern China is clearly a special gesture that affirms France’s special place in China’s diplomacy and world view.
The Dujiangyan irrigation system is located in the Chengdu flatlands, at the strategic junction between the Sichuan basin and the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Mount Qingcheng, dominating the Chengdu plains to the south of the Dujiangyan irrigation system, is the cradle of Chinese Taoism, founded in 142 AD by Zhang Ling.
As he accompanied Macron to such an important part of China, Xi told his guest that at Dujiangyan, he always feels the ancestors’ greatness in adapting to local conditions, following the law of nature, pursuing harmony between humanity and nature and harnessing water for the benefit of the people, and that he drew inspiration from the wisdom of ancient Chinese statecraft.
The message was clear: the governance of the state is akin to the governance of water; just like the way of water, statecraft should be a fluid blend of pragmatism, strategic choice and effective diplomacy. Both countries should always exude independence and strategic vision.
For China, deepening its partnership with France is crucial to the implementation of the Global Governance Initiative that was launched in September this year to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. The project follows three initiatives launched by Xi – the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilisation Initiative.

In addition to holding a joint press conference, China and France issued five joint statements, ranging from enhancing global governance and cooperation in addressing global climate and environmental challenges, to furthering cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and exchanges and cooperation in agriculture and food and the situations in Ukraine and Palestine.
Macron’s latest trip to China was his fourth since 2017. The frequency of Sino-French summit diplomacy further attests to the special nature of the relationship.
The first state visit in January 2018 charted a road map for Sino-Franco relations in the Macron-Xi era. The second state visit in November 2019 advanced many aspects of relations, especially in trade and climate cooperation. The third state visit took place in April 2023; it was one of the first foreign leaders’ visits to China after more than three years of the pandemic.
Xi has visited France three times, in 2014, 2019 and 2024, respectively. His third visit in May 2024 celebrated the 60th anniversary of Sino-French diplomatic relations and also saw an outside-of-protocol personal gesture by Macron in meeting Xi in the Pyrenees mountains, the birthplace of the French leader’s maternal grandmother.
However, the relationship is tinged by a significant trade imbalance. France’s trade deficit with China almost reached €47 billion (US$55.1 billion) in 2024, which reportedly represented 46 per cent of the European country’s overall trade deficit, despite the fact that the world’s second-largest economy sees France as an “indispensable partner in economic and trade affairs”.

Amid growing global uncertainty, black swan events and the reshuffling of global trade patterns, both countries must readjust their foreign trade and investment policies.
With 2025 almost at the end, China is in the process of transitioning to a new five-year development cycle. The 15th five-year plan will be ratified early next year and will serve as a blueprint for the country’s economic and social transition through to 2030.
There is an opportunity for France to fine-tune its trade policy to enable a more open and mutually beneficial relationship with China. Beijing can also create a more inclusive business environment that allows foreign companies to contribute to its goal of achieving high-quality, sustainable economic growth.
As France vacillates between asserting European strategic autonomy and pursuing a distinct foreign policy for itself, and China seeks national rejuvenation and its rightful place in the world, only time will tell if these two civilisational states can negotiate and reimagine a new global order.


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China-EU relations

In France, China sees a civilisational partner in a polarised world

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping visit the Unesco-listed Dujiangyan site in Sichuan province on December 5. Given that Chinese presidents rarely take foreign leaders to the provinces, Macron’s visit to southwestern China is clearly a special gesture. Photo: Pool/Reuters

A view of Yuzui or Fish Mouth, the dyke that is a key component of the Dujiangyan irrigation system that splits the Min River into an inner channel for irrigation and an outer channel for flood control, in Sichuan province on December 5. The Unesco-listed hydraulic engineering system was built more than 2,000 years ago and is still in use today. Photo: Pool/AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron greets students during a visit to Sichuan University in Chengdu, as part of a three-day visit to China, on December 5. Photo: Pool/Reuters

A vendor stands near cognac bottles at a liquor store in Beijing on July 4. Almost all European brandy is cognac produced in France, exports of which to China are worth €1.4 billion per year. Photo: AFP

France and China are testing an alternative to zero-sum diplomacy

French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan gaze at the Dujiangyan irrigation system, a Unesco World Heritage site in Sichuan province on December 5. Photo: Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron visits Sichuan University in Chengdu on December 5. Photo: Xinhua

An Xpeng model is unveiled during the Paris Auto Show in Paris in 2024. Photo: Reuters

Workers monitor the lifting of part of a nuclear island containment vessel at Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant in Yantai, Shandong province on September 6. Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Macron’s trip exposes Europe’s fractured China policy

Illustration: Craig Stephens

French President Emmanuel Macron (left) plays table tennis with Chinese athletes at Sichuan University in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on December 5. Photo: Reuters

Spain’s King Felipe VI (centre left), accompanied by Gestamp’s executive chairman Francisco J. Riberas (centre right), tours a factory on the outskirts of Beijing, on November 13. Photo: EPA

Macron’s visit to China a counterpoint to rising tensions

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron greet children waving Chinese and French flags and holding up flowers, during a welcome ceremony for Macron at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on December 4. Photo: Reuters 

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As Paris pursues strategic autonomy and Beijing seeks national rejuvenation, both powers are poised to reimagine a new global order


As Paris pursues strategic autonomy and Beijing seeks national rejuvenation, both powers are poised to reimagine a new global order.


France

Emmanuel Macron

China-France relations

China trade

Trade

Xi Jinping

People’s Republic of China

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


In France, China sees a civilisational partner in a polarised world

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As Paris pursues strategic autonomy and Beijing seeks national rejuvenation, both powers are poised to reimagine a new global order

As Paris pursues strategic autonomy and Beijing seeks national rejuvenation, both powers are poised to reimagine a new global order