China News Service, Paris, February 24 (Reporter Li Yang) On February 24, local time, the 2024 French International Agricultural Expo (Agricultural Expo) opened in Paris.
Different from previous years, a large number of farmers came to demonstrate and protest that day, causing the organizers of the Agricultural Expo to postpone public admission and the opening of the exhibition, attracting attention from the outside world.
Reporters saw at the scene that day that protesting farmers parked more than a dozen tractors at the entrance of the Porte de Versailles Convention and Exhibition Center in Paris, where the agricultural expo was held.
Many police officers were deployed to patrol around the convention and exhibition center, and the atmosphere was tense.
Hundreds of protesting farmers forced their way into the agricultural expo early that morning and targeted French President Macron, who was visiting the expo.
They tried to break through the police cordon and clashed with the police.
The organizers delayed admission to the public until noon that day.
Thousands of people waited for hours in the freezing cold to get in.
Macron cut the ribbon for the opening of the Agricultural Expo at 1 p.m., which was also delayed by several hours compared with previous years.
Despite the farmers' demonstrations, Macron did not change his original visit itinerary. He stayed at the Agricultural Expo for a total of 13 hours that day and had meals on site.
This is a continuation of the protests carried out by French farmers since the beginning of this year.
Organizations such as the French Federation of Agricultural Operators' Unions have previously announced that they would demonstrate during the agricultural expo.
Although French Prime Minister Attal has announced multiple rounds of new measures to seek to meet the demands of protesting farmers, some protesting farmers are still dissatisfied and hope to express their demands through the agricultural expo.
During his visit to the Agricultural Expo that day, Macron had a dialogue with representatives of the French Federation of Agricultural Operators Unions and other organizations.
He emphasized that he preferred to solve problems through dialogue rather than confrontation.
He said that French officials have made 62 commitments, including minimum price commitments for some agricultural products.
He also said he would meet again with representatives of farmers' organizations in the near future.
The French media paid far more attention to the protesting farmers than to the Agricultural Expo itself.
In fact, people are still enthusiastic about the Agricultural Expo, and many stalls are crowded with people.
This agricultural expo has set up a Chinese pavilion, where people can taste fried dumplings, beef noodles and other delicacies.
The French International Agricultural Expo was founded in 1964 and is an annual event in French agriculture.
The 2024 Agricultural Expo will last until March 3.
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