CHENGDU: Surrounded by security, French President Emmanuel Macron made his way through crowds of young fans screaming in excitement at a university in southern China on Friday (Dec 5), receiving a greeting more reminiscent of a rockstar than a politician.
Hundreds of students and local residents lined up outside a university sports hall in the city of Chengdu to welcome Macron, some waiting hours for the president’s arrival.
“I’m very happy and honoured that he has come to Chengdu and our Sichuan University,” 21-year-old material sciences student Ye Maoxuan said, describing the French leader as “charming”.
With a wall of students’ cellphone cameras fixed on the French head of state, the buzz around Macron ‘s visit quickly spread via social media.
He had already caused a stir after he was filmed on a surprise jog in a local park on Friday morning.
“We saw the videos online. He looks like he is still very lean and very healthy,” said 20-year-old student Su Chang, standing behind temporary barriers erected to contain the waiting crowd.
When Macron arrived at around 3pm, students jostled for a chance to shake his hand in rapturous scenes that echoed his 2023 visit to a university campus in the Chinese city of Guangzhou.
Macron arrived in Chengdu on Thursday evening after talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing that canvassed relations between the two governments and as the French leader sought to shore up Chinese support for a path to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/macron-visit-china-sichuan-france-pandas-5564116
