French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen are scheduled to hold talks with the Chinese president on Monday. They will also visit Hungary and Serbia.
Political Reporterdan TV
Paris: French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal will receive Xi Jinping in Paris today. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen are scheduled to hold talks with the Chinese president on Monday.
This is Xi Jinping’s first visit to Europe in five years. According to the Elysee Palace, the residence of the French president, the talks in Paris will focus on the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, economic issues, and environmental protection.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is trying to strengthen relations with Europe as a trading partner in the context of China’s growing tensions and economic competition with the United States.
After France, 70-year-old Xi Jinping will visit Serbia and Hungary. Serbia has close ties with China and is part of China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, in which Beijing is investing billions of dollars in transportation routes and ports around the world, especially In the Global South.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government is also considered China-friendly. Hungary is one of the few EU countries member of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Using particularly friendly terms, Beijing underscored the importance of visits to Serbia and Hungary.
Since Chinese President Xi Jinping’s last visit to Europe in 2019, relations between China and Europe have clearly deteriorated. A proposed trade deal between China and the European Union was blocked due to human rights abuses in China, and concerns by some EU leaders about excessive economic dependence on China.
