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In pictures: Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Britain

Chinese president xi jinping began a pomp-filled four-day state visit to britain on tuesday (oct 20) with a ceremonial welcome by queen elizabeth, senior royal family members and political leaders. mr xi delivered an address to parliament on tuesday and attended a state banquet hosted by the queen..

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• Trade and investment

China State Visit will unlock more than £30 billion of commercial deals

Industries that will benefit include the creative sector, retail, energy and financial services, technology and education.

The Prime Minister will welcome the President of China, Xi Jinping, this week in a State Visit that will see more than £30 billion worth of trade and investment deals completed, creating over 3,900 jobs across the UK.

As the second biggest economy, numerous commercial deals spanning a range of sectors such as the creative industries, retail, energy, health and technology, financial services, aerospace and education will be signed, providing an opportunity for British and Chinese businesses to forge stronger links.

The visit will also open up export opportunities for UK companies looking to expand into China and attract Chinese investment into the regions. The Northern Powerhouse will get a boost as China is expected to announce further investment into the region when the Prime Minister and President visit Manchester at the end of the week.

Speaking ahead of the state visit, the Prime Minister said:

This is going to be a very important moment for British-Chinese relations. Trade and investment between our two nations is growing and our people-to-people links are strong. This visit will be an opportunity to review all of these things but also talk about how the UK and China can work together on global issues such as climate change and tackling poverty. It’s a real opportunity to deepen our relationship.

Amongst the industries benefitting is retail with over £1 billion in export deals to be agreed, which will see UK based companies expand their global footprint into China.

As well as commercial deals, the State Visit will provide an opportunity for the UK and China to discuss how they can better work together on global issues including the threat of terrorism and extremism.

This week’s deals are set to eclipse those agreed at the UK-China Business Summit last year where £14 billion worth of deals were signed. It comes at a time when the UK and China are embarking upon a golden era in relations, with an unprecedented level of ministerial visits to China, most recently the Chancellor’s visit last month .

During the State Visit the Prime Minister will hold talks with President Xi in Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon with further talks held at Chequers on Thursday.

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See Photos of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s State Visit to the United Kingdom

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What to expect from President Xi Jinping’s visit to Britain

First official visit by Chinese head of state in 10 years will include a City summit, details of London’s role in Beijing’s financial plans and a royal banquet

Xi Jinping, the president of China, is to make his first state visit to Britain this week, 10 years after the last official visit by a Chinese leader.

The visit, from 20-23 October, has been lauded as establishing a “golden era” of bilateral relations, and comes a week after George Osborne, the chancellor, visited China to strengthen economic and financial ties . The last visit by a Chinese head of state was when Hu Jintao came in 2005 and met with a raucous protest by Tibetan and human rights campaigners.

Though there are disagreements over China’s human rights records and the former British colony of Hong Kong, the Treasury hopes China will become Britain’s second-biggest trade partner within a decade.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, have been invited to stay at Buckingham Palace and will enjoy a state banquet hosted by the Queen. But amid the pomp and ceremony, there will also be protests. The week’s events include:

Tuesday 20 October

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will greet the president and his wife at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, before travelling to Horse Guards Parade for the ceremonial welcome.

A guard of honour will greet the pair at about noon on the Mall, which is decked in the flags of China and the UK. The Chinese national anthem will be played and presentations made, as the Queen and Prince Philip accompany Xi and Peng in a state carriage procession to Buckingham Palace, where the president and first lady will lunch with the Queen and view items from the Royal Collection in the picture gallery of the palace.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International and othergroups will protest in St James’s Park over the human rights violations in China, such as censorship, curbs on civil society and detention of human rights lawyers and activists.. Demonstrators will hold placards and banners with slogans in both Chinese and English with messages such as: “Rights over revenue” and “People before profit”.Xi will address the Houses of Commons and Lords at Westminster in the afternoon.

He will then meet Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader . The private meeting was arranged to prevent an embarrassing semi-public challenge by Corbyn on China’s human rights record during the ceremonial dinner, reports say.

Later, Xi and Peng will meet Charles and Camilla at Clarence House, after seeing work by students at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts.

The Queen will then host a state banquet for Xi and Peng. Also present will be Philip, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, and politicians including David Cameron and Corbyn. Xi and the Queen will make short speeches.

Wednesday 21 October

The president is scheduled to visit Imperial College London with George Osborne , the chancellor, and Prince Andrew on the second day of his visit.

Xi will also meet William and Kate at an event at Lancaster House celebrating the partnership of the two nations, in which companies in the creative industries will be announcing new collaborations in film, TV and entertainment.

Xi will meet Cameron at Downing Street before attending the UK-China business summit at Mansion House where the focus will be on investment, infrastructure and innovation.

Afterwards, he will visit Huawei Technologies, a leading Chinese telecommunications company, followed by a banquet hosted by the Lord Mayor and the City of London at the Guildhall.

Xi is expected to use his speech at Guildhall to set out how he hopes to make London the global centre for offshore Chinese finance .

Thursday 22 October

The Chinese president will receive a formal farewell from the Queen and Philip at Buckingham Palace on the third day of his visit.

Xi will then continue with his trip, visiting Inmarsat , a British satellite telecommunications company, and later attend a conference of the Confucius Institute, the Chinese equivalent of the British Council, hosted by University College London’s Institute of Education. Later, Xi and Peng will join Cameron and his wife at Chequers for dinner before flying to Manchester.

Friday 23 October

On his final day of his state visit, Xi is scheduled to visit the National Graphene Institute at Manchester University with Osborne. Xi and the prime minister will then meet at Manchester City’s stadium, followed by lunch at Manchester town hall hosted by Paul Murphy, the Lord Mayor of Manchester, and attended by civic and business representatives.

Both leaders will then attend an event at Manchester airport, before the lord chamberlain, the senior official of the royal household, bids farewell to the Chinese president and first lady before their departure.

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• Xi's visit very important step in development of China-UK ties -- UK official

Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Britain is a very important step forward on the basis of what had been building for the relationship of China and Britain, an official said Tuesday.

In an interview with Xinhua on the eve of President Xi's attendance at a state banquet at the City of London, a part of the metropolis of London, Alderman Alan Yarrow, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, said that he is very much looking forward to seeing President Xi.

MOST STUNNING

Yarrow said he is impressed by the rapid development of the Chinese economy and its going-out strategy that further connects the world's second-largest economy with the rest of the world in trade, investment and financial flows.

"It is undoubtedly for me that it has been one of the most stunning economic stories that the world has seen that how China forth its way through the course of the last 15 years, and consequently we need to be involved in this process," he said.

"With a population of 65 million people in the small island of Europe, we do something like 44 percent foreign exchange turnover, and we are the largest international capital market. We by definition have to be involved with emerging economies around the world, and China by far the largest."

In an article published Monday on the City A.M., a London-based daily newspaper, Yarrow said: "As China continues on its path to becoming a modern, globalized economy, the UK is proud to enter a new golden era in our partnership for growth and prosperity."

"Two thousand years ago, Chinese merchants journeyed thousands of miles to bring silk to London. Now they are bringing steel, but it has always been the flow of financial and human capital which changes the future of continents," he said.

MULTIPLE DEALS

The mayor believed that the Chinese delegation will seal multiple deals in various fields during Xi's state visit.

"I see President Xi's visit here is very much as a standard approval of the relationship of China and UK. That is why this visit is so critical,"

"This 'Golden Era,' which we are going into, is there, because everything has been done in the process term in a right way, along with the state visit in the top. So that is very exciting, it is exciting for us, as well as for China," he said.

The Ministry of Commerce of China said Tuesday that multiple deals in various fields are expected to be signed during President Xi's visit to Britain.

Enterprises from both countries face many opportunities in infrastructure construction, citing China's "Belt and Road" initiative and Britain's Northern Powerhouse project, a regional development plan of Britain, said the ministry.

On the same day, the British Prime Minister's Office announced that more than 30 billion pounds (46.5 billion U.S. dollars) worth of trade and investment deals will be completed in Xi's state visit this time.

CITY'S SUPPORT

Yarrow said the internationalization progress of the renminbi, the Chinese currency, has been "extraordinarily well."

"When you start to internationalize the currency, it is critical it is done in a very predictable manner. And I think China has approached that whole internationalization of RMB very well," he said.

He also said that it will be step by step for the RMB to become one of the major reserve currencies in the world.

Processes like the inclusion of the RMB as a component of currency basket for Special Drawing Rights of the International Monetary Fund cannot be done by only China itself, he said. China needs to have other people in supporting in doing it, and the City of London is willing to do so.

London is a hub for RMB business outside Asia. The city has offices of all five major Chinese banks and the City of London RMB initiative, the first clearing bank outside Asia for the RMB. The two countries have also signed the yuan-pound swap line, and witnessed the first non-Chinese sovereign RMB bond by the British government.

"We embrace the RMB, we offer it as an alternative method of financing and alternative means of exchange," he said.

According to a report published by the City of London in June, London's RMB overall trading volumes more than doubled in the year 2014, with average daily volumes reaching 61.5 billion U.S. dollars, nearly six times as large as those reported in the first survey in 2011.

Source: Xinhua

• China issues first offshore renminbi note in London
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Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent five-day visit to France, Serbia, and Hungary occurred amidst heightened tensions with many European countries, driven by disputes over trade, concerns about support for Russia’s actions in Ukraine, and allegations of Chinese espionage activities.

Xi’s trip followed closely on the heels of two high-profile U.S. diplomatic missions to China in April, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Despite expressions of mutual interest in stabilizing relations, there were no clear indications that the significant policy gaps between them could be effectively bridged.

While the ceremonial aspects of Xi Jinping’s reception followed a familiar pattern, the geopolitical and economic landscape, as well as the objectives of his recent European visit, diverged significantly from those of his last trip to the continent in 2019. This time, the emphasis was on exploiting Western divisions and easing trade tensions with the European Union (EU) — tasks that have become progressively more challenging.

The Ceremonial and the Contextual

The official reason for Xi’s visit was to mark the 60th anniversary of China’s relations with France on the first stop of his trip and the 75th anniversary of official ties with Hungary on his last stop. Chinese state media played up the trip as Xi’s celebration of friendly relations and cooperation with European nations. Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry,  said  Xi’s visit would “inject stability into the development of China-Europe relations and make new contributions to peace and stability in the world.”

Upon arriving in Paris, Xi lauded relations between China and France, proclaiming that the two sides “have established a model for the international community of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries with different social systems.” Coinciding with his arrival, Xi published an op-ed in the French newspaper  Le Figaro , making his case for cooperation over confrontation and stressing the importance of Sino-French relations as a “bridge of communication between East and West.” Yet, it is important not to be misled by these formalities and positive sentiments about cooperation. The context here is key: China’s economy is  facing headwinds , and the United States is  imposing restrictions  on Chinese firms. Seen through this lens, Xi’s underlying motive for the trip was to counter European efforts to “de-risk” from China and to fend off the threat of a looming trade war with the EU. However, advancing these objectives will prove difficult because this is a different Transatlantic partnership and a different Europe than Xi encountered during his visit to Europe five years ago.

A Different Transatlantic Alliance

The convergence of pandemic-related supply chain disruptions and Beijing’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine highlighted the economic security implications of China’s growing influence. This has brought the perspectives and approaches of the United States and Europe towards China closer together. These events have further solidified the recognition among policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic that economic security and national security are inherently intertwined.

Undoubtedly, the complex economic and political relationships that EU member states have with China have hindered efforts to forge a cohesive and unified Transatlantic policy stance toward China. Differing threat perceptions and economic dependencies among EU members reflect similar disparities between the United States and Europe. Yet, despite these challenges, Transatlantic partners have converged on the recognition that China poses significant challenges and even threats. There is a consensus on the importance of “de-risking,” the desire to uphold security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, and the necessity to counter China’s activities on the global stage.

The most significant shifts in China policy across the United States and Europe have primarily centered around economic considerations. A broad consensus has emerged regarding the economic risks associated with China, which include several key concerns:

• Perceived over-reliance on China for critical imports, such as processed rare earth minerals.
• Beijing’s utilization of outbound direct investment and research partnerships to acquire sensitive, often dual-use, technologies.
• The presence of forced labor within certain supply chains, particularly those linked to Xinjiang.
• Longstanding issues related to intellectual property theft and lack of reciprocal market access.
• China’s utilization of economic coercion tactics.

In response to these challenges, governments across Europe and the United States have implemented various defensive measures aimed at mitigating these economic risks posed by China.

A Different Europe  

Amidst President Xi’s recent visit to Europe, he was warmly received by French President Emmanuel Macron, while Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia orchestrated highly choreographed welcomes . However, European sentiments towards China have generally deteriorated since Xi’s last visit to the continent.

Xi’s first stop on his March 2019 tour of Europe, Rome, included a lavish welcome and ceremony  to celebrate Italy’s decision to participate in his signature Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. While in France, Xi witnessed the signing of multibillion trade deals, including an order or 300 Airbus planes worth 30 billion euros. However, even during this productive and seemingly promising  period in Sino-European relations, there were underlying tensions and indications of a more assertive EU strategy towards China.

The EU’s most significant shift in perspective on China occurred on 12 March 2019, just prior to Xi’s visit, when the European Commission and the European External Action Service jointly released a strategic reflection paper . This document introduced the term “systemic rival,” signaling growing frustration within EU circles over Chinas reluctance to open its markets to European companies in vital sectors. The next month, the EU finalized an investment screening mechanism , a pivotal development aimed at establishing a more cohesive, unified EU strategy for detecting and addressing foreign direct investment (FDI) from China in critical assets, technologies, and infrastructure. By this time, concerns over Chinese trade surpluses had also heightened, and Europe’s initial enthusiasm for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) had waned.

In the intervening time, the three Baltic states  have opted out of the China-CEE Cooperation Platform , Beijing’s so-called “17+1” initiative. Poland has scaled back its engagement with Beijing. For the Czech Republic , China is not the attractive partner it once was. Last December, the Italian government formally  announced  that it would withdraw from the Belt and Road Initiative. 

This trend had, if anything, intensified in the weeks and months leading up to Xi’s recent visit. In January, the EU unveiled a new economic security package . Escalating its crackdown on foreign subsidies, the EU introduced a range of measures to counter what it perceives as unfair state support for Chinese industries. The EU currently has numerous ongoing probes into suspected anti-competitive practices. Additionally, the EU Commission has launched investigations into the activities of social media app TikTok under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Just prior to Xi’s visit to France, the EU conducted dawn raids on the Warsaw and Rotterdam offices of Nuctech, a Chinese surveillance equipment producer that is partially state-owned, which was blacklisted by the U.S. in 2020 due to security concerns. Several prominent cases of alleged Chinese espionage and influence operations have also surfaced in recent months. In early April, Sweden expelled a Chinese journalist who had resided in the country for two decades, citing national security threats. Shortly after, both Germany and Britain separately charged individuals with spying for the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) to obtain technological information. Additionally, the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD reported in its annual review that Chinese operatives had targeted Dutch semiconductor, aerospace, and maritime industries in efforts to bolster Beijing’s military capabilities.

These developments illustrate a notable hardening of the European approach towards China. Indeed, Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine appeared to solidify a shift towards a more hawkish stance, with the EU and most of its member states reassessing the prudence of engaging with authoritarian regimes. During his visit to Washington last December, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, once a strong advocate of Chinese investment in UK infrastructure as prime minister, declared that China had become “an epoch-defining challenge.” Indeed, the mood among European leaders regarding China has distinctly changed, as reflected in their vocabulary: “engagement” has become taboo while “de-risking” is now favored.

The shift in attitudes among European decision-makers’ towards China is mirrored by public sentiment. According to survey results released by the Pew Research Center last July, half or more of respondents in North American and European countries expressed somewhat or very unfavorable opinions of China. Similarly, a poll  last year of Eastern and Central European countries conducted by Globsec, a research group in Slovakia, found that “negative perceptions of Beijing have soared.” 

Modest Investment, Meagre Dividends

Turning back to Xi’s itinerary and assessing what his visit to Europe accomplished or fell short of achieving, it is essential to situate it within the broader framework of the EU’s increasingly assertive stance towards China.

Celebrating 2024 as the 60th anniversary of Sino-French relations, Xi recited familiar talking points about “win-win” economic ties. However, publicly, he made no concessions. Xi dismissed the notion of a Chinese “ overcapacity problem .” The absence of significant trade breakthroughs can be traced back to fundamentally divergent perspectives: while the EU sees Chinese practices as anticompetitive, China views EU actions as protectionist.

Similarly, President Macron’s efforts to urge Xi to leverage his influence on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine were unsuccessful. Xi simply reiterated China’s stance that it will not supply weapons to Russia and would “strictly control” exports of dual-use equipment, positions his government had already committed to enforcing. Xi did not acknowledge Western concerns about China’s role in sustaining the Russian economy by providing access to goods sanctioned by the West. Instead, he accused the U.S. and other Western countries of hypocrisy for exacerbating the conflict through arms deliveries to Ukraine, stating : “We oppose using the Ukraine crisis to cast blame, smear a third country, and incite a new Cold War.”

In contrast to Xi’s visit to France, his trips to EU candidate Serbia and EU member Hungary — two nations led by autocratic leaders considered friendly towards China and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin — were characterized by commitments to strengthen political ties and expand investments. Welcomed by enthusiastic crowds in Belgrade, Presidents Xi and Vučić lauded the “ ironclad friendship ” between their countries, signing 28 new cooperation agreements and announcing a new deal aimed at enhancing the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Serbia. Xi concluded his Europe trip with a visit to Budapest, where he pledged new investments in transportation and energy infrastructure.

Minding the Gaps

Xi Jinping’s trip to Europe revealed more than it achieved — about the toughening of the European approach to China and its tightening convergence with that of the United States. It also highlighted elements of China’s strategy, which is aimed at exploiting divisions within Europe and driving a wedge between Europe and the United States.

While Xi’s visit did little to widen these gaps, it did expose some of them. The 27 members of the bloc are not in complete alignment. Emmanuel Macron has dedicated much of his international reputation to forging a Europe with “strategic autonomy,” a goal that Beijing has tacitly supported and that, despite its seeming elusiveness, Macron has not abandoned. Another gap is evident between the German position on China, on the one hand, and that of the French and the European Commission (EC) , on the other. There is greater readiness in Paris and Brussels to push back against Beijing on the trade front than there is in Berlin .

The pivotal meetings, notably those involving President Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, ultimately yielded dialogues devoid of deliverables. The most significant achievement was Xi’s backing for an “ Olympics truce ” during the Paris Games. In this regard, the results and prospects resemble recent engagements between U.S. officials and their Chinese counterparts. Ongoing consultations between senior Chinese officials and the Biden White House have fostered more dialogue on critical issues than seen in recent years. However, this does not alter the fundamental tension inherent in U.S.-China relations, though it may lead to the establishment of a new framework for managing economic disputes. Through Xi’s visits to Serbia and Hungary — Beijing’s two remaining friends in Europe — China has retained its economic and geopolitical foothold there. Nevertheless, the prevailing European approach, grounded in the triptych of “China as partner, competitor, and rival” is here to stay, with the “competitor” and “rival” components becoming more prominent.

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Aiming for Rosier Ties, Xi Wraps Up Europe Visit

The red carpet receptions China’s leader received in France, Serbia and Hungary helped recast a strained relationship with the continent.

By Andrew Higgins and Chris Buckley

Andrew Higgins reported from Warsaw and Chris Buckley from Taipei, Taiwan.

The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, received a gift of fine cognac at the Élysée Palace in Paris and was cheered in Belgrade by Serbians waving Chinese flags, albeit most of them were bused-in government workers.

And by the time he left Hungary on Friday at the end of a six-day European tour, the clouds over his country’s relations with the West looked much less dark, at least from China’s perspective.

Mr. Xi told President Emmanuel Macron of France that relations would be “as vibrant and thriving as springtime.” At his next stop, he said the “tree of China-Serbia friendship will grow tall and sturdy.” In Hungary, Mr. Xi told Prime Minister Viktor Orban that their countries were poised to “embark on a golden voyage.”

The Chinese state-run news media, never less than glowing about Mr. Xi, went to strenuous lengths to present his European meetings as a triumph.

There were no breakthroughs on trade, the war in Ukraine or other issues that have soured ties — just a long list of new joint projects that China says it will help finance. Hungary got 18, Serbia dozens more. French companies inked deals on energy, finance and transport projects.

But the red carpet receptions Mr. Xi received in all three countries helped cast a rosier hue on ties between China and Europe, which have only worsened since he last visited five years ago.

China’s rigid restrictions on travel for much of the Covid-19 pandemic deterred high-level visits in either direction. And just as the Covid crisis began to fade, Europe’s estrangement from China deepened when President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia launched his full invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

This week, after first stopping in Paris, Mr. Xi traveled to Serbia and Hungary, which have remained reliably pro-China on a continent where, according to opinion polls, China’s reputation has taken a nosedive.

In Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic declared that his country felt only “reverence and love” for the Chinese president, and the police detained followers of the banned Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong to make sure they wouldn’t disrupt the government-orchestrated welcome for Mr. Xi.

In Hungary, Mr. Orban assured Mr. Xi, the leader of the world’s biggest communist country, that he would “feel at home” in Budapest , though the city is studded with monuments to the fight against communism. The police banned a protest planned for the center of Budapest and cleared a busy district of people so Mr. Xi could visit an office tower undisturbed on Friday.

Mr. Xi’s goal on his European tour was to “demonstrate and strengthen China’s ability to retain friendly ties with Europe despite NATO and Ukraine,” said Yun Sun , the director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington. France, Serbia and Hungary, she added, are “about the most China-friendly countries” in Europe.

And though it is only about the size of Indiana and has fewer than 10 million people, Hungary will play an outsize role when it takes over the European Union’s rotating presidency this year. That role is mostly bureaucratic, but it will allow Hungary to try to set the agenda for meetings of the Council of the European Union, the bloc’s dominant power center.

“Hungary is China’s Trojan horse in the European Union,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a China expert at the Asia Center, a research group in Paris. Mr. Xi, he added, did not achieve much during his stop in France, but he “helped China’s position” by cementing his country’s ties to Serbia and Hungary.

In an interview with Magyar Nemzet, a Hungarian news media outlet controlled by Mr. Orban’s governing Fidesz party, Mr. Xi expressed hope that Hungary would “take the lead” in “maintaining the correct direction of E.U.-China relations.”

Noah Barkin , a senior adviser with the Rhodium Group who studies European-Chinese relations, said China would be wrong to hope that Mr. Orban can use Hungary’s council presidency, which lasts only six months, to shift European policy significantly. “The idea that Hungary will be able to do China’s bidding during its presidency is fanciful,” he said.

But Mr. Orban has a long history of swimming against the tide set by more powerful European countries. He was the only E.U. leader to travel to Beijing in October for a gathering celebrating Mr. Xi’s pet foreign policy initiative, the Belt and Road infrastructure program. He was also the only leader who blocked a statement the European Union had planned to issue in 2021 criticizing China over its crackdown in Hong Kong.

China and Hungary are “natural allies” because they share a commitment to pursuing their own national interests no matter what anyone else says, a pro-government Hungarian commentator, Levente Sitkei, told Magyar Nemzet .

“China makes alliances that it thinks useful and will never, in any forum, care about how others think,” Mr. Sitkei said. “Hungary acts in exactly the same way.”

Even before Mr. Xi’s trip, China had been making some progress on restoring influence in Europe. Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany, flew to Beijing last month and softened his warnings on trade tensions by emphasizing his country’s commitment to doing business with China.

Some in Beijing seem confident that China will succeed in coaxing European governments away from alignment with Washington.

“Even if European politicians often put on a big show of shaking their fists at China, in their hearts they well know that Europe cannot do without the contribution from economic cooperation with China,” Wang Wen , a researcher at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing, told Guancha, a Chinese news website , this week. “More and more Europeans are waking up to the fact that after losing Russia, they cannot now lose China.”

Many in Europe, however, remain deeply wary of Mr. Xi’s partnership with Mr. Putin — a relationship that will be back in the spotlight when Mr. Putin visits China in the coming weeks. A rash of recent arrests in Britain and Germany of people accused of spying for China has also raised anxieties.

And even on trade, which Mr. Xi highlighted as the lifeblood of cooperation, tensions are rising over a surge of Chinese-made electric vehicles and other products.

In September, the European Commission announced an investigation into Chinese state subsidies for electric vehicle makers. The European Union also opened inquiries last month into Chinese wind turbine and solar panel manufacturers , alleging that they benefited from unfair subsidies.

“Xi’s trip will not have reassured anyone who was hoping for signs that China is taking Europe’s concerns seriously,” Mr. Barkin said.

The final day of Mr. Xi’s stay in Hungary was strikingly uneventful for a leader whose usually full agenda has earned him the nickname chairman of everything. Mr. Orban gave Mr. Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, a tour of Budapest, Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, reported .

“The two leaders sat gazing out the window at clouds rolling by,” the Xinhua report said. “They spoke at ease about their experiences growing up and thoughts on governance, and they reached many points of consensus.”

Barnabas Heincz contributed reporting from Budapest, and David Pierson from Hong Kong.

Andrew Higgins is the East and Central Europe bureau chief for The Times based in Warsaw. He covers a region that stretches from the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to Kosovo, Serbia and other parts of former Yugoslavia. More about Andrew Higgins

Chris Buckley , the chief China correspondent for The Times, reports on China and Taiwan from Taipei, focused on politics, social change and security and military issues. More about Chris Buckley

China’s Xi Jinping calls for peace conference and ‘justice’ over war in Gaza as Arab leaders visit Beijing

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China’s Xi Jinping calls for peace conference and ‘justice’ over war in Gaza as Arab leaders visit Beijing

By Simone McCarthy, CNN

Hong Kong (CNN) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping decried “tremendous sufferings” in the Middle East and called for an international peace conference as leaders from Arab nations visit Beijing this week amid mounting global concern over Israel’s war in Gaza .

“Since last October, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated drastically, throwing the people into tremendous sufferings. War should not continue indefinitely. Justice should not be absent forever,” Xi said Thursday at the opening of a meeting between top diplomats from China and Arab states, also attended by several leaders from the region.

He also reiterated China’s call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, as well as Beijing’s support for a “more broad-based, authoritative and effective international peace conference.”

The diplomatic gatherings in Beijing come as Israel’s war in Gaza remains an urgent global focus, as Israeli forces intensify operations in the enclave’s southern city of Rafah and a humanitarian crisis worsens by the day.

China , which has sought to deepen its relations across the Middle East in recent years, has positioned itself in alignment with the Arab world and the broader Global South on the nearly eight-month-long conflict, criticizing Israel and calling for a ceasefire.

Its stance has put it at odds with the United States, long a key power in the region and a primary backer of Israel. Chinese officials have used the conflict to hit out at Washington – fitting into a larger message from Beijing that frames the US as an aggressor unfairly dominating the current world order.

Xi in his remarks hailed a “common desire for a new era of China-Arab relations” and said their relations could be a “model for maintaining world peace and stability.”

“In this turbulent world, peaceful relations come from mutual respect, and lasting security is built on fairness and justice,” said the Chinese leader, who has pushed for an alternative model for global security to the alliance-based one backed by the US.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and Tunisian President Kais Saied are in China for state visits that coincide with the ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum.

Delegations from 22 Arab states joined that event at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, according to Chinese state media.

War in Gaza on the agenda

Diplomats attending Thursday’s ministerial meeting were expected to adopt agreements to deepen cooperation across a range of fields and “make a common voice of China and Arab states on the Palestinian question,” China’s foreign ministry said ahead of the gathering.

With its diplomacy this week, China “wants to demonstrate leadership, consolidate ties, and call for ceasefire (in Gaza). It wants to be a particularly strong leader on this issue, at least rhetorically,” according to Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank.

“China has chosen to side with Palestine and the Arab countries. The choice is deliberate as it does suggest a desire to align with Arab countries, and the Global South. But China didn’t create the crisis. It only capitalized on it,” she added.

Xi said China will provide an additional nearly $70 million to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to supporting post-conflict reconstruction, adding to roughly $14 million already contributed, as well as $3 million to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in support of its emergency humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

Israel declared war on Hamas in Gaza following the militant group’s October 7 attack on its territory that killed some 1,200 people and saw more than 200 taken hostage, according to Israeli forces. More than 36,000 Palestinians have died since the start of Israeli military operations in Gaza, according to its health ministry.

China has recognized a Palestinian state since 1988.

Since the start of the war, Beijing has positioned itself as a champion for the broader issue of a two-state solution, which would see the international recognition of a Palestinian state, and dispatched rounds of envoys to the region to meet Arab counterparts. It has not explicitly condemned Hamas for the October 7 attacks.

Beijing last month hosted representatives from rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas for “reconciliation” talks.

Even as Beijing has sought to tighten ties throughout the Middle East in recent years, observers say its influence in the region remains limited.

Beijing has also appeared unwilling to take certain steps to respond to regional effects of the conflict. For example, it said it did not deploy additional naval assets to secure Red Sea shipping lanes that were under attack in recent months by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Thursday’s ministerial meeting is the first such gathering since China held its first joint summit with Arab leaders in late 2022 in Saudi Arabia.

Then, Xi was welcomed to the Gulf state with fanfare – cutting a sharp contrast to a tense visit from US President Joe Biden earlier that year amid American outrage over Riyadh’s alleged role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside its consulate in Istanbul.

Xi is also holding bilateral talks with visiting leaders this week.

Egypt’s Sisi was greeted with a red-carpet welcome to Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Wednesday, where the two leaders agreed to deepen their strategic partnership, according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry.

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Putin and Xi vow to deepen 'no limits' partnership as Russia advances in Ukraine

HONG KONG — They’ve already declared it has “no limits,” and on Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to deepen a partnership increasingly characterized by their countries’ clash with the West.

The two autocratic leaders met in Beijing in a show of unity between the two U.S. rivals as Putin wages a new offensive in his war on Ukraine .

Putin’s two-day state visit to China is his first overseas trip since he began a fifth term in office with a shake-up of his military leadership. It comes as Russia has seized the initiative in the war, now in its third year, and as the United States intensifies pressure on China to do more to stop it.

In February 2022, days before Putin invaded Ukraine, he and Xi declared a “no limits” partnership , and the two longtime leaders are personal friends. On Thursday, they signed a joint statement deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between their two countries.

That is not the same as a formal alliance, but the possibility that China and Russia could one day form one serves as a kind of “strategic ambiguity” that can constrain the U.S. and others, said Natasha Kuhrt, a senior lecturer in international peace and security at King’s College London.

“They can keep us guessing about whether they will or won’t escalate, whether they will or won’t strengthen the partnership and the direction of an alliance and that in itself is a kind of deterrent,” she told NBC News.

Relations between China and Russia, which are celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations during Putin’s visit, have been strongly tested by the war in Ukraine and Putin’s growing international isolation amid Western opposition to it.

Though China has strived to portray itself as neutral in the conflict, it has provided Russia with diplomatic support as well as advanced technology with both civilian and military uses. It is also an increasingly important economic partner for Russia, becoming one of the top markets for its Western-sanctioned oil and gas.

China has also put forward a vague, 12-point peace plan that would allow Russia to retain its territorial gains in Ukraine and has been dismissed by the West.

On Thursday, Putin said he was “grateful” for China’s initiatives to resolve the war in Ukraine, while Xi said China “hopes for the early return of Europe to peace and stability and will continue to play a constructive role toward this.”

Though still willing to show support for his “dear friend” Putin, Xi also has to consider what it might cost him in his relations with the U.S. and Europe.

The U.S., which last month approved $60 billion in military aid for Ukraine that is just starting to arrive, has imposed a series of sanctions on Chinese companies accused of aiding the Russian war effort, and is also threatening to sanction Chinese banks.During a visit to Beijing last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China’s support,” and that he had told Chinese officials that “if China does not address this problem, we will.”

Xi, who is seeking to retain or expand overseas markets amid an economic slowdown at home , is also reluctant to alienate leaders in Europe. Last week, during his first visit to the continent in five years , Xi was pressured by French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to use his influence over Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

Xi rejected their criticism of his country’s relationship with Russia, and said China was not a participant in the war. But the pressure may be having an effect: After a record $240 billion in overall trade between China and Russia last year, Chinese exports to Russia fell in March for the first time since 2022.

Both Xi and Putin have also moved away from the term “no limits” when it comes to talking about their ties.

“Xi basically doesn’t really talk about it in those terms anymore. He talks about a good neighborly relationship, comprehensive strategic coordination and mutually beneficial cooperation,” Kuhrt said. “And Russia talks about flexible strategic partnerships.”

Victor Gao, vice president of the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization, said China did not have to choose between Russia and the West.

“I think China should make continuous efforts to improve the relationship between China and the West. In fact, this is not contradictory to improving relations between China and Russia,” said Gao, who is also chair professor at Soochow University.

Putin arrived in the Chinese capital early Thursday and was greeted with full military honors outside the Great Hall of the People next to Tiananmen Square, where he shook hands with Xi before heading inside for talks.In addition to Beijing, Putin is expected to visit the northeastern city of Harbin, near the two countries’ 2,600-mile border, which is holding a China-Russia trade fair this week.

In an interview Wednesday with Xinhua , China’s state-run news agency, Putin cited the “unprecedented level of strategic partnership between our countries” as his reason for making China the first stop of his fifth term.

Among those traveling with Putin is Andrei Belousov, an economist who was named the Russian defense minister this week in a surprise shake-up. His predecessor, Sergei Shoigu , is also on the trip.

Russia’s new offensive in northern Ukraine has made early gains, worrying Kyiv and its allies that Putin’s military may be able to make decisive progress in the coming weeks.

Xi, 70, and Putin, 71, have met more than 40 times, either in person or virtually. Putin was last in Beijing in October , while Xi was in Moscow days after he secured an unprecedented third term as Chinese president in March 2023.

Jennifer Jett is the Asia Digital Editor for NBC News, based in Hong Kong.

Larissa Gao is a fellow on NBC’s Asia Desk, based in Hong Kong.

Mithil Aggarwal is a Hong Kong-based reporter/producer for NBC News.