Chinese Foreign Minister reportedly held a call with their French counterpart, Xinhau reports; says that protectionism will push up inflation and hamper the green transition

Bilateral calls of this kind between Beijing and a major EU member state are a recurring feature of trade-friction episodes: China has historically worked the larger European capitals individually when tariff action is pending at the bloc level, since EU trade measures require member-state alignment and Paris is one of the votes that matters. The framing, casting protectionism as inflationary and damaging to the green transition, is the standard Chinese counter-argument in disputes over electric vehicles and clean-tech goods, aimed at the constituency inside Europe most exposed to Chinese retaliation and to input costs. The actors have prior form: French-Chinese channels have been used before as a venue for airing and sometimes softening tariff positions ahead of EU decisions. The tells are follow-on readouts, whether the French side issues its own account with a different emphasis, and any movement in the EU trade calendar on provisional or definitive duties. As rhetoric rather than policy, the direct market channel is limited; the sensitivity sits in European autos and other sectors named in prior retaliation threats, where headline risk has tended to track the state of these exchanges.