French President Emmanuel Macron touched down on Wednesday in China, where he is expected to put pressure on his counterpart Xi Jinping to help secure a ceasefire in Ukraine and discuss trade relations.

Macron, on a fourth state visit to China since taking office in 2017, landed in Beijing at around 5:10 pm (0910 GMT), an AFP journalist saw.

He will meet Xi and Premier Li Qiang at the capital's Great Hall of the People before heading to Chengdu, where two giant pandas loaned to France have recently been returned.

Efforts to bring an end to the nearly four-year war in Ukraine are expected to be on the agenda.

"We are counting on China, like us a permanent member of the Security Council... to lean on Russia, so that Russia and, in particular, Vladimir Putin can finally agree to a ceasefi

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