BEIJING, April 7. /TASS/. The China visits by French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen may help improve relations between Beijing and the EU, affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times newspaper.
"The visits by the leaders of France and the EU are significant and seen as very successful," the paper quoted him as saying.
According to the expert, "as long as Europe doesn't tag along with the US, exercise decoupling or cut off supply chains and doesn't engage in a US-initiated new Cold War, China-Europe ties will return to the right track."
Wang Yiwei believes that the visits by Macron and von der Leyen signal that China-Europe relations are ready to shake off the shadow of COVID-19 and the Ukraine crisis.
The expert points out that European countries "learned about China's current high-quality development; broad opening-up," and "saw for themselves China's willingness to play an active role in solving the Ukraine crisis."