French President Emmanuel Macron said that China and Europe should work together on Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative during his visit to Xi’an on Monday, Reuters reports.
The first stop of Macron’s first state visit to China, Xi’an, was an important jumping-off point on the ancient Silk Road and also an important part of Beijing’s efforts to construct a new network of Eurasian trade routes. Macron said he was concerned that these new connections do not run “one-way”.
“After all, the ancient Silk Roads were never only Chinese,” Macron told an audience of academics, students and business people at the Daming Palace, the royal residence for the Tang dynasty for more than 220 years. “By definition, these roads can only be shared. If they are roads, they cannot be one-way,” he said.
The French president also aimed to project strength, saying that he had come to China to announce that “Europe is back”.
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