French President Emmanuel Macron is making his first state visit to China from Monday to Wednesday this week, in what both French businesses and Chinese authorities hope will be a productive visit in promoting trade and improved EU-China relations. While certainly not explicitly focused on tourism, the visit brings with it the ambitions of tourism stakeholders in France such as Airbus and Accor to China to strike new deals and strengthen business relationships.
Airbus hopes to sell an additional 100 planes to China, and an announcement thereof would follow the pattern of how China likes to announce big purchases in conjunction with state visits. In November during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the country, the Chinese government “announced” the purchase of 300 Boeing aircraft—despite the fact that the deal had been finalized long before the state visit.
