Pandas and ping-pong as screaming students give Macron rockstar greeting in China

Surrounded by security, French President Emmanuel Macron made his way through crowds of young fans screaming in excitement at a university in southern China on Friday, receiving a greeting more reminiscent of a rockstar than a politician.

Hundreds of students and local residents lined up outside a university sports hall in the city of Chengdu to welcome Macron, some waiting hours for the president's arrival.

"I'm very happy and honoured that he has come to Chengdu and our Sichuan University," 21-year old material sciences student Ye Maoxuan said, describing the French leader as "charming".

With a wall of students' cellphone cameras fixed on the French head of state, the buzz around Macron's visit quickly

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