The G7 Summit (Group of Seven Leaders' Meeting) will be held in Evian, at the foot of the French Alps, from the 15th to the 17th. Although China is not a G7 member, it is increasingly asserting its presence at this G7 Summit. For example, French President Macron, whose country holds the rotating presidency, recently and suddenly invited China to participate in a video conference with G7 member states to discuss global economic imbalances. French media outlet RFI reported this.

Given that the current G7 clearly maintains a confrontational stance towards China, President Macron bringing China into the dialogue garnered significant attention. President Macron's stance toward China has a dual nature: on one hand, aiming to build cooperative relations, and on the other, not shying away from strong criticism.

Currently, partly due to the impact of additional tariffs by the United States, Chinese products are flooding into Europe, causing a huge impact on the market. President Macron has clearly stated the possibility of taking strong measures with the EU if this situation continues. For the EU, finding itself caught between the two great powers of the US and China, coupled with China's 'going its own way' attitude, is extremely troublesome. Nevertheless, President Macron is prioritizing cooperation over confrontation and is trying to inject new vitality into the G7-China relationship, because China's involvement is unavoidable in resolving the global economic imbalance, a critically important issue for the G7, just as it is in issues like climate change.

G7 member countries are deeply concerned about China's record trade surplus, as well as their extreme reliance on Chinese supply chains for critical minerals, rare earths, automotive batteries, renewable energy, and specific strategic components in the digital sector. Furthermore, China has become a powerful competitor in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI). The EU has been preparing countermeasures against China for several months and has hinted at the possibility of implementing tougher trade policies to protect industries such as its automotive sector if dialogue yields no results.

China, for its part, has criticized the G7 as not "representing the world order." Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing and others attended the video conference arranged by President Macron, where the Chinese side advocated for "the practice of true multilateralism" and "barrier-free trade." The phrase "barrier-free" can be understood as a strong warning from China against protective economic balancing measures, in response to the EU's perception that "China is unfairly dumping exports on Europe." Furthermore, it can be assumed that the phrase "advocating for cooperation," also brought up by the Chinese side, implicitly criticizes the US-China trade war and the unpredictable policies of the Trump administration.

President Macron's logic that global trade reform is impossible without China, the world's second-largest economy and largest industrial nation, is regarded as having some validity by French experts. However, there are many doubts about whether the "G7 is the appropriate forum for discussing with China."

Valérie Niquet, an expert on Asian affairs at the Foundation for Strategic Research in France, explained Japan's position as a G7 member, stating that "the G7 must maintain its relatively slimmed-down size and should not absorb the entry of other major countries, especially China," adding that "this is because China's entry would weaken Japan's role in the G7 mechanism."

Niquet further pointed out that dialogue with China has not produced substantial solutions. Regarding these issues, China is not "the solution" but "the problem itself," and the situation will not change unless the European side takes some coercive measures.

Furthermore, Alice Ekman, a Senior Analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies, emphasized, "While it is clear that the G7 must resolve economic and technological issues, we must also consider the issue of China's geopolitical strategic positioning. This is because China has already quite clearly sided with Russia and Iran."

While the G7 has been unable to rebuild trust and cooperation internally in areas such as critical minerals and digital technologies, China is steadily building alliances with anti-G7 nations such as Russia. Niquet expressed the view that "it is a matter of urgent importance for G7 member countries to form a common understanding (on issues where agreement has not been reached)." (Translation/Editing by Kisaragi Hayato)