Merkel and Macron in talks with Xi

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday. According to a government spokesperson in Berlin, they discussed relations between the European Union and China as well as topics on international trade, climate protection and biodiversity Merkel and Macron supposedly advocated further adjustments to short-term CO2 reduction goals and additional joint efforts to protect biodiversity at the 15th Conference of the Parties on Biological Diversity planned for October in Kunming, China.