French President Emmanuel Macron has peace in Ukraine on his agenda as he prepares to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday during a three-day state visit to Beijing.

Macron is accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is also expected to press the Chinese president on his Russian ties.

Both European leaders have expressed their intention to persuade Beijing to use its influence over Moscow to help achieve peace in Ukraine. While China has called for a peaceful resolution to the war, it has steered clear of condemning Russia's invasion of its neighbor.

Last month, Xi visited Moscow and held prolonged talks with Russian President Vladimir Putinin which the two leaders celebrated their "close ties."

In a telling contrast, Xi has so far not even spoken on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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Strengthening EU-China ties

The visit comes as Europe and China strive to overcome growing differences in recent years, ranging from technological competition to the situation in Taiwan and China's growing closeness to Russia despite the war in Ukraine.

Ahead of the visit, Macron said he wants to "be a voice that unites Europe" over Ukraine.

China, meanwhile, hopes the visit will help avert the kind of deterioration in relations that has been seen between it and the United States. Tensions between Beijing and Washington have continued to rise, with an exchange of accusations on both sides in recent months.

However, Europe's strong economic ties to China mean it has been forced to perform a balancing act with Beijing.

"Macron's visit is expected to produce concrete results in furthering economic and trade cooperation between China and France, as well as to increase political mutual trust," Chinese state media outlet Global Times wrote in an editorial on Thursday.

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