Xi Jinping’s visit to France: cognac, Chanel bag… The Chinese President was showered with gifts from Emmanuel Macron

60 years worth celebrating! On the occasion of the anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations between France and China, Chinese President Xi Jinping was received with honors in Paris. A bottle of cognac, a Chanel bag, books by Victor Hugo… His French colleague Emmanuel Macron presented him with a number of gifts on this occasion, signs of “friendship” and “trust” between the two countries.

According to footage broadcast by BFMTV, the head of state first presented the Chinese president with a black leather Chanel bag. He then gave him a vase made in Amboise (Indre-et-Loire) by a French artist “in honor of China.”

The 1861 edition of Contemplations, a collection of poems by Victor Hugo published five years earlier, was also proposed by Emmanuel Macron. “I know that you love Victor Hugo very much, you often paid tribute to him,” the French president said to his colleague. He also gave him a translation of Notre Dame, a “magnificent novel” by the same author, reminding him that the cathedral would reopen its doors on December 8. While still in the book department, Xi Jinping received the first known dictionary of Chinese and French, published in 1742.

Paintings and books proposed by Xi Jinping

But the list of gifts does not end there: Emmanuel Macron also gave his colleague bottles of cognac to thank him for not introducing “temporary” customs duties on this alcohol. “I also thank the president for his openness towards temporary measures regarding French cognac and for his desire to prevent their use,” the head of state emphasized following a one-on-one meeting with Xi Jinping.

French cognac has become the subject of an anti-dumping investigation launched by the Chinese authorities. China has made it clear that there will be no immediate customs duties as a precautionary measure pending the results of the investigation, a French diplomatic source said.

The Chinese president also did not come empty-handed. The list of his gifts to Emmanuel Macron has not been made public, but AFP photographs show books, paintings and an image of Anchiornis, a small feathered dinosaur that lived in China in prehistoric times, La Voix du Nord reports. .