dpa
Paris
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Europe on Sunday, on a trip that will take him to France, Hungary and Serbia.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal received Xi in Paris on Sunday afternoon. Talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are scheduled for Monday.
It is Xi’s first trip to Europe in five years.
Ahead of the Chinese president’s arrival, protesters gathered in the French capital calling for a “Free Tibet.” The status of the autonomous Chinese region in the Himalayan highlands under international law is disputed. China’s leadership suppresses the independence aspirations of the approximately five to seven million Tibetans.
According to the Élysée Palace, the talks in Paris will focus on the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, economic cooperation and climate protection. Macron said ahead of the visit that everything must be done to involve China in the major global issues. It is in our interest “to ensure that China has a say in the stability of the international order,” Macron said in an interview published on Thursday by the Economist magazine. Xi is reportedly seeking to strengthen Chinese relations with Europe, an important trading partner, amid heightened Chinese tensions and economic competition with the United States.
Before Xi’s departure, Chinese state media painted a picture in which the Europeans allowed themselves to be pushed into dependence on Washington, particularly after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
After his stay in France, 70-year-old Xi will continue on to Serbia and Hungary.
Serbia maintains close relations with China and is a member of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, in which Beijing is investing billions in transport routes and harbours worldwide, but particularly in the Global South.
The Hungarian government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is also considered to be China-friendly. Hungary is one of the few EU countries to be a member of the Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing has emphasized the upcoming visits to Serbia and Hungary with particularly friendly words.
