(Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s two largest nations projected a united front in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in France on Tuesday, pledging to open investments with the Asian country while also fixing imbalances in the relationship.
“None of us is naive, but we respect China and we’re determined to have dialogue and cooperation,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after the meeting, which included German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
The EU has struck a more cautious stance recently toward China, releasing a report this month underscoring the need to recognize that the Asian nation is an “economic competitor” and “systemic rival” that should no longer be considered a developing country.
That position hasn’t precluded member states from pursing investment opportunities with Beijing. On Monday, the Chinese announced a $35 billion order for jets from Airbus SE, the joint European planemaker.
Macron accepted that the opening of Europe’s market to China has created tensions in society.
“We saw the imbalances in terms of production, the economic and social changes, deep tensions that legitimately push toward demands for protection,” Macron said. Our desire is for these tensions not to fracture the global trade order or to create new conflicts, isolation or withdrawal, Macron said.
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