China’s relationship with France should be a model for the world, said President Xi Jinping as he landed in Paris on Sunday.
The Chinese leader made the rare visit to France against a backdrop of mounting trade disputes with the European Union.
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to urge Mr Xi to reduce trade imbalances and to use his influence with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Mr Xi is due to meet Mr Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, before he and Mr Macron go on a visit to the Pyrenees the next day.
Mr Xi, who was welcomed in Paris by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, said in a statement released on his arrival that ties between China and France were “a model for the international community of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries with different social systems”.
France is backing an EU probe into Chinese electric vehicle exports, and in January, Beijing opened an investigation into mostly French-made imports of brandy, a move widely seen as a tit-for-tat retaliation.