Sophie Marceau, Mireille Mathieu, Jack Lang… Celebrities invited to state dinner in honor of Xi Jinping

Guests of honor at the presidential palace. On Monday evening, a state dinner was held at the Elysee Palace in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is visiting France. Among the people invited to this event, designed to demonstrate the influence of France, we find figures from the world of culture, politics, as well as business. Review of celebrities seen on the steps of the Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

Actresses Sophie Marceau, Gong Li, Salma Hayek, as well as director and producer Luc Besson were present to represent the 7th art. Also present at the guest table were artists from the music world, such as singer Mireille Mathieu and musician Jean-Michel Jarre.

Precedent in 2019

Several figures from the political world were also present: Jack Lang, as well as Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade Frank Riester, President of the National Assembly Yael Braun-Pivet and Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire.

Also on the trip were leaders of the French luxury business: François-Henri Pinault from the Kering group, as well as the head of the LVMH group (and owner of Parisien-Aujourd’hui in France) Bernard Arnault, Xavier Niel from Free, Patrick Pouyanne from TotalEnergies or Carlos Tavares from Stellantis.

For the anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations between France and China, Emmanuel Macron presented his counterpart with a series of gifts, signs of “friendship” and “trust” between the two countries, including a bottle of cognac, a Chanel bag or even Victor Hugo books.

In 2019, Xi Jinping’s previous reception welcomed 200 prestigious guests to great fanfare, including Alain Delon and Hélène Rolles, both beloved stars in China, and even chef Alain Ducasse.