The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has fired the starting pistol on a three-day visit to China by giving his host, Xi Jinping, a horse called Vesuvius.
The eight-year-old gelding recruited from France’s presidential cavalry corps represented “an unprecedented diplomatic gesture”, Reuters quoted the French presidency as saying.
“It mattered a lot for the president, even if it was very complicated to import a horse for sanitary reasons,” one official said. “It’s a symbol of French excellence.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... isit-china
Macron's first stop on his tour was the ancient city of Xi'an, the start of President Xi's sprawling, ambitious Belt and Road trade initiative.
The French President said Europe should play a key role in the trillion dollar trade and infrastructure plan, and by doing so in Xi'an, he sent a symbol of France's strong support for the project.
In Beijing, following a trip to the Forbidden City, Macron poured praise on Xi for China's commitment to open, multilateral trade and for sticking to Beijing's commitments under the Paris Climate Accords.
He even offered a twist on his "Make our planet great again" slogan, by delivering the line in Mandarin.
http://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/10/asia/ ... index.html
