Macron says France, Germany have 'never been' so aligned on China issue
French President Emmanuel Macron met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday. PHOTO: MERZ X
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that France and Germany have "never been so closely aligned" on China, warning that Europe faces a €1 billion (nearly $1.15 billion) daily trade deficit with Beijing that costs thousands of jobs every day.
Speaking after a joint Franco-German Cabinet meeting, Macron said Paris and Berlin now share a common assessment of China's economic impact while stressing they are "not anti-China".
"Every day, we have a €1 billion trade deficit with China. Every day, tens of thousands of jobs are destroyed," he said.
The president added that Europe should seek greater technology transfers from China rather than simply importing Chinese products while protecting its industries from unfair competition.
He said: "We want to engage with China to have technology transfers to our countries, not just import products, but transfers that are respected and create jobs here so we can benefit from them."
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Macron said China subsidises its companies on average eight times more than Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, urging the European Commission to move "much faster" in deploying trade defence instruments.
L’Allemagne et la France sont étroitement unies, comme rarement auparavant. Nous assumons notre responsabilité pour l’Europe. Nous faisons de nos pays des pays sûrs, économiquement forts. Bienvenue en Allemagne, @EmmanuelMacron. pic.twitter.com/XQLp1Pl9qZ
— Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz (@bundeskanzler) July 16, 2026
He also announced that France and Germany had asked their economy, finance and foreign ministers to prepare a joint roadmap on China by September, including dialogue with Beijing on exchange rates and financial market access.
On Europe's competitiveness, Macron said Paris and Berlin agreed to continue simplifying EU regulations, deepen the single market and complete the Capital Markets Union, or the Savings and Investment Union, during the current semester.
"We've agreed that this semester must be the time to finalise the Capital Markets Union, or the Savings and Finance Union. This is fundamental because if we want a Europe that can finance its disruptive projects and, ultimately, have the private financial component of what I just mentioned regarding AI, quantum computing, and other areas, we must see this project through," he said. "There's a genuine Franco-German agreement."
He concluded by saying the period from October to December is "really the time for action" on the industrial projects, the Capital Markets Union, and the strategy towards China.