Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz discussed China at an informal dinner in Paris ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit, AFP reports.
The Elysee Palace has offered the German chancellor to join a trilateral meeting between the French president, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Xi Jinping.
The idea was to repeat the format of 2019, when Emmanuel Macron invited Chancellor Angela Merkel and Jean-Claude Juncker, Von der Leyen's predecessor, for an exchange of views with his Chinese counterpart in Paris.
But Olaf Scholz could not accept as he already had a trip to Latvia and Lithuania planned.
Wolfgang Büchner, spokesman for the chancellery, confirmed to the press in Berlin that the agenda had been "fixed long ago" and that as a result the question of German participation had not actually arisen.
The dinner between the leaders, accompanied by their wives, served as a forum for them to reach agreement on matters regarding China.
The dinner was presented as "private" by the Elysee Palace. But several official photos of the two couples, still smiling, were posted on social media afterwards, including one shared simultaneously by the leaders themselves. / BGNES
