China will provide $100 million in aid to the Palestinians to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and support reconstruction efforts, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.

Xi was speaking at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after their meeting in Beijing.

Macron urges Xi to help correct ‘unsustainable’ global trade imbalances

French President Emmanuel Macron urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping to boost cooperation on geopolitics, trade and the environment, as the European Union seeks China’s help in ending the war in Ukraine and Beijing looks for economic wins from US tariffs.

On his fourth state visit, Macron is walking a delicate tightrope, trying to reduce France’s massive trade deficit with China and secure industrial jobs at home to bolster his legacy, without antagonising the world’s second-largest economy.

China, for its part, wants to ease trade frictions with the 27-strong EU over its heavily subsidised electric vehicle industry, while presenting itself as a more reliable market to the US for economies hit by President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

“The imbalances we see accumulating today are not sustainable; they carry the risk of triggering a financial crisis and threaten our ability to grow together,” Macron told his host during their Thursday meeting at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

“There are solutions,” he said, calling for rules that were fairer and stronger, rather than based on “survival of the fittest.”

Xi told Macron their countries should follow their own geopolitical paths.

“No matter how the external environment changes, our two countries should always demonstrate the independence and strategic vision of major powers,” he said.

However, no major business deals were signed at a ceremony between Xi and Macron, who was traveling with a big business delegation. Nothing was said of a package of Airbus orders that the group has discussed with Beijing for months and is often tied to diplomatic visits.

The Chinese leader was not expected to approve the long-anticipated 500-jet Airbus order, as that would weaken Beijing’s leverage during trade talks with the US, which is pressing for new Boeing purchase commitments.