Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a five-day trip to Europe after visiting France, Serbia and Hungary, where he praised Beijing’s vision of a multipolar world and held talks on trade, investment and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron feted Xi with gifts of luxurious bottles of cognac and a trip to a childhood retreat in the Pyrenees mountains, while in Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic hosted a grand reception, drawing a crowd of tens of thousands of people, who shouted “China, China” and waved Chinese flags in front of the Serbian presidential palace.
In Hungary, President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban also rolled out the red carpet for Xi, welcoming him with military honors at the Hungarian presidential palace.
The trip marked Xi’s first trip to Europe in five years and came at a symbolic moment for the three nations.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France and the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Hungary. The trip also coincided with the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during Serbia’s war in Kosovo.
Xi’s main aim with the visit, analysts say, was to push for a world where the United States is less dominant and to control the damage to China’s ties with the European Union as trade tensions rise amid a threat of European tariffs and an investigation into Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles that European authorities say are harming local industries.
Here are the key findings.
No trade concessions, Russia-Ukraine
During Xi’s two-day trip to France, Macron pressed the Chinese leader to resolve Beijing’s trade imbalances with the EU – which recorded a deficit of 292 billion euros ($314.72 billion) last year – and using his influence over Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
Macron invited European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to join his talks with Xi, to underline European unity in calls for greater access to the Chinese market and to respond to the bloc’s complaints about its excess capacity. in electric vehicles and green technology. The pair also pressured Xi to control sales of products and technologies to Russia that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
But the Chinese leader appears to have offered few concessions.
Xi denied that there was a Chinese “overcapacity problem” and only reiterated his calls for negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Xi, who is expected to welcome Putin to China later this month, said he called on all parties to restart contact and dialogue.
“Both trade and Russia are non-negotiable for China. Macron achieved nothing [on those fronts],” said Shirley Yu, a political economist and senior research fellow at the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom.
But she suggested the visit promoted Macron’s personal relationship with Xi, which is part of the French leader’s strategy to make France a crucial partner for all emerging world powers.
“Macron shares a common vision with Xi, which is that US hegemony – including Europe’s quest for loyalty to US foreign policy – must yield to a multipolar global order, accommodating the interests and concerns of emerging powers.” , Yu told Al. Jazeera. Macron’s recent visits to India and Brazil also “prove that France wants to remain at the forefront of this global change,” he added.
And despite the lack of concessions, French officials told the Reuters news agency that the visit allowed Macron to convey messages about Ukraine and would allow for more open discussions in the future.
As for Xi, Macron’s speech on European “strategic autonomy” helps promote the Chinese leader’s vision for a multipolar world. And while there has been no reconciliation on the economic front, Xi’s visit would help “limit the damage,” wrote Yu Jie, senior China researcher at Chatham House, a UK-based think tank. It could help prevent ties with Europe from worsening further, as they have with the US, she said, amid the threat of European tariffs on Chinese goods and an investigation into Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles.
In contrast to Xi’s visit to France, his visits to EU candidate country Serbia and EU member state Hungary were marked by promises to deepen political ties and expand investment in Central and Eastern Europe.
In Belgrade, Vucic, the Serbian president, endorsed Xi’s vision of a “global community with a shared future” and the two leaders hailed a “tough partnership” while announcing that a free trade agreement signed between their two countries last year would come. effective July 1st.
Other economic promises included the purchase of new Chinese trains, new air links and increased Serbian imports.
Yu, the LSE political economist, said Xi’s visit to Belgrade on the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in the city was intended to make “clear that China and Russia share a common objection to NATO’s eastward expansion.” . It also “reveals that there should be no illusion that China will bow to Western pressure to restrict economic partnership with Russia,” she said.
In Budapest, Xi promised more investment in transport and energy, including the construction of a high-speed railway linking the capital’s center with its airport and cooperation in the nuclear sector, according to Hungarian officials. Xi also promised to move forward with a US$2.1 billion project to connect the Hungarian capital with the Serbian capital.
The project, most of which is financed by a loan from China, is part of the Belt and Road Initiative, the ambitious infrastructure plan launched by Xi a decade ago to link Asia with Africa and Europe.
All of this demonstrates Xi’s willingness “to reintroduce the ‘Second World’ of the Cold War as a significant geostrategic actor,” Yu said. “With economic support from China, the EU periphery can become more significant European economic players, boasting greater growth speed and providing high-tech supply chains,” she said.
For China, Hungary serves as a gateway to the EU trading bloc and Yu added that Beijing’s growing partnership with Hungary could also “potentially render EU sanctions on Chinese EVs ineffective.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
