Chinese President Xi Jinping follows Macron visit with tour of southern economic powerhouse Guangdong
- The country’s leader has been touring province after meeting his French counterpart in the provincial capital Guangzhou on Friday
- On Monday Xi’s itinerary included a port, a fisheries project and a mangrove forest
The tour is sandwiched between last week’s meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in the provincial capital Guangzhou and his meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Beijing later this week.
In interviews published over the weekend, Macron said that Europe must not be a “follower” of either the United States or China on the issue of Taiwan – remarks that have drawn criticism for undermining unity between the US and Europe.
According to the state news agency Xinhua, Xi visited a national fishery project developed under the National High Technology Research and Development Programme, a nationwide plan to develop advanced technology; a water resource allocation facility and an area of mangrove forests during Monday’s inspection.
He also toured Xuwen, a port that sits opposite the island province of Hainan.
“Xi learned about efforts in developing marine aquaculture, strengthening the protection of mangrove forests, boosting transport infrastructure connectivity, advancing the collaborative development of Guangdong with its neighbouring island province of Hainan, and optimising water resource allocation,” Xinhua reported.
