When French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to China in early December for his fourth state seek advice from, the itinerary started with the predicted formalities. There used to be a purple carpet reception on the Nice Corridor of the Other people in Beijing and high-level talks with President Xi Jinping on business, era and Ukraine.
However the defining symbol of this diplomatic go back and forth didn’t happen within the capital. Quite, it befell greater than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away in Chengdu, Sichuan province. There, Xi hosted Macron for an extraordinary example of “no-tie diplomacy,” a time period utilized by Chinese language media to explain a comfy and casual taste of statecraft.
Stepping outdoor the inflexible protocols of Beijing, Xi in my view guided Macron during the mist-covered mountains of Sichuan. The stroll held excessive importance: It marked the primary time Xi has hosted a international chief for such an off-the-cuff sightseeing assembly outdoor the capital, with an itinerary that incorporated the Dujiangyan irrigation gadget, a seek advice from to China’s nationwide desk tennis staff and the Chengdu Analysis Base of Large Panda Breeding.
International consideration stays understandably fastened on “hard” problems — business price lists, the battle in Ukraine and nuclear calories. However as a cultural historian of contemporary China, I consider the choreography of this seek advice from provides an important window into Beijing’s diplomatic technique. Via foregrounding such things as historical waterways and desk tennis, China is deploying an advanced logo of cultural statecraft designed to melt the sides of a hardening geopolitical panorama.
The reciprocity of ‘home diplomacy’
The selection to host Macron in Chengdu used to be no longer random, however a sparsely curated act of diplomatic reciprocity. In April 2024, Macron had invited Xi to his non-public retreat within the French Pyrenees, a gesture meant to foster non-public intimacy.
Right through the newest excursion, Xi reportedly referenced their earlier assembly, telling Macron: “Last year you invited me to your hometown in the Hautes-Pyrénées; I believe this visit will further deepen your understanding of China.”
Via bringing Macron to Sichuan, Xi used to be returning the prefer, shifting the connection from the pro to the private. This displays a shift in Chinese language international relations from a “Wolf Warrior” mentality, outlined by way of disagreement and rhetorical aggression, towards a extra relational means with key Eu companions. Via making an investment time in this type of provincial seek advice from, Beijing is signaling that it perspectives France no longer simply as a buying and selling spouse, however as a country worthy of deep, non-public engagement.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s sightseeing excursion recollects that of U.S. President Richard Nixon all over his leap forward 1972 seek advice from to China.
Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Photographs
This outreach is particularly vital at a time when China–U.S. business tensions stay excessive, as Beijing more and more seems to be to the Eu Union as a important part of its broader solution to counter Washington-led containment efforts.
Governing with the waft
The center-piece of Macron’s cultural excursion in China used to be the Dujiangyan irrigation gadget. Constructed within the 3rd century B.C.E., the UNESCO International Heritage web site stays the sector’s oldest nonetheless‑running dam‑loose hydraulic mission.
Then again, Dujiangyan is greater than a vacationer enchantment; this is a bodily manifestation of Chinese language political philosophy. Not like trendy dams that block water, Dujiangyan manages it by way of dividing the waft. It embodies the Taoist concept of wu wei (nonaction) and Xi’s metaphor “to govern water is to govern the country.”
Via showcasing this particular web site, Xi used to be providing a refined lesson in statecraft. The metaphor implies a governance taste in keeping with stability, adaptability and dealing with herbal forces somewhat than confronting them head-on.
Within the context of strained world members of the family, the message to France used to be transparent: Cooperation must no longer be constrained by way of inflexible binaries between East and West, nor formed by way of the common sense of containment. As a substitute, it must practice the herbal waft of mutual pursuits — starting from business and local weather motion to cultural and academic change.
Pingpong international relations 2.0
If Dujiangyan represented historical knowledge, the seek advice from to the Sichuan Provincial Health club introduced international relations into the trendy, high-energy area of recreation.
Desk tennis holds a legendary position in Chinese language diplomatic historical past. The unique “ping-pong diplomacy” of the early Nineteen Seventies helped thaw the ice between China and the USA, paving the way in which for President Richard Nixon’s historical 1972 seek advice from. As historian Pete Millwood argues in “Improbable Diplomats,” those athletic exchanges presented a politically secure and publicly palatable atmosphere wherein each nations may just start signaling a significant shift in diplomatic members of the family.
French President Emmanuel Macron takes on Chinese language desk tennis avid gamers at Sichuan College in Chengdu on Dec. 5, 2025.
Sarah Meyssonnier/AFP by the use of Getty Photographs
On Dec. 5, Macron tapped into this legacy when he visited the venue of the 2025 ITTF Blended Staff International Cup and took part in an impromptu fit. Partnering with French avid gamers Félix Lebrun and Prithika Pavade in opposition to Chinese language stars Wang Chuqin and Solar Yingsha, Macron engaged in a lighthearted rally that went viral on Chinese language social media.
In an technology the place diplomatic interactions are regularly scripted and stern, those moments humanize the “other side” for the home public, making a reservoir of public goodwill that leaders can draw upon when navigating tricky political compromises.
Cushy persistent with fur
Whilst the 2 leaders bonded over paddles, Brigitte Macron, France’s first girl, engaged with China’s maximum enduring soft-power asset: the enormous panda.
“Panda diplomacy” has been an indicator of Beijing’s international coverage for the reason that Nineteen Fifties. The loaning of those animals is a barometer of political heat; their recall can sign a relax.
The French First Woman visited the Chengdu Analysis Base of Large Panda Breeding to look “Yuan Meng.” As the primary panda born in France, to folks on mortgage from China, Yuan Meng is a residing image of the bilateral dating between France and China. Brigitte Macron, who’s his godmother, helped facilitate Yuan Meng’s go back to China along his folks in November 2025.
An enormous panda seems to be on as French first girl Brigitte Macron makes a seek advice from to the Chengdu analysis base for large panda breeding.
Ludovic Marin /AFP by the use of Getty Photographs)
The bounds of cultural international relations
What do waterworks, pingpong and pandas upload as much as?
Critics would possibly brush aside those occasions as mere pageantry — a velvet glove concealing the brutal fist of realpolitik. Certainly, a pleasant sport of desk tennis does no longer unravel the Eu Union’s issues over Chinese language state subsidies, nor does it bridge the space relating to China’s stance at the battle in Ukraine.
Then again, brushing aside the cultural measurement ignores how China perspectives international relations. For Beijing, “friendly atmosphere” is regularly a prerequisite for growth on substantive political problems.
The Xi-Macron assembly in Chengdu additionally signaled a refinement of Chinese language gentle persistent, shifting clear of the combative rhetoric of latest years towards a method that embraces hotter ties with key Eu powers like France.
Whilst tradition can’t substitute arduous international relations, this Macron seek advice from demonstrates that during 2025, the street to political consensus in Beijing might rather well run during the panda enclosure and desk tennis area.
This long-term intent used to be encapsulated within the leaders’ farewell at Dujiangyan. As they parted tactics, Xi joked, “Next time, we’ll see another place.” Macron’s rapid reaction — “Of course, definitely” — hints that this cultural international relations is designed to be an ongoing effort.
