How will Michel Barnier influence France’s China policy – and is he supposed to?

President Emmanuel Macron picked Michel Barnier to be the new French prime minister in a bid to end two months of political chaos after his centrist alliance lost its relative parliamentary majority in a snap July election.

Barnier, a former foreign minister who recently served as the European Union’s Brexit negotiator, is unlikely to put a dent in France’s China policy or the deteriorating trade relations between Beijing and Brussels, according to observers.

Despite his reputation as a veteran centre-right politician, the 73-year-old Barnier – who became the oldest prime minister in the history of modern France when he took office earlier this month – was expected to have little sway on foreign policy decisions, they said.

Wang Yiwei, a Europe specialist and professor of international relations at Beijing’s Renmin University, said Barnier was a compromise choice and likely to be a transitional figure.

“Like his predecessors, Barnier is expected to be responsible mainly for economic and internal affairs, without much real power, especially in diplomacy, which is controlled by Macron himself,” he said.