What to look for as Xi Jinping visits France, Serbia, and Hungary

Atlantic Council experts

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Then and now, it begins with Paris. In May 1975, Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping traveled to France in the first official visit by a Chinese Communist leader to a Western country. He would go on to open China to the world. Forty-nine years later almost to the day, a very different Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, will travel to Paris, Belgrade, and Budapest, just as Beijing’s relationship with the West seems to be narrowing. Xi’s May 5-10 trip comes one year after the European Union (EU) began “de-risking” its economy from China and follows cases of suspected Chinese espionage in Europe. Below, our experts share what to look for at each of the stops during Xi’s European grand tour.

France

France is Xi’s first stop, as he sets out to re-engage the old continent. French President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to join for a trilateral meeting with Xi on the first day will be key to projecting a unified approach. Just last week, Macron warned of the European project disintegrating should it not bolster its political and security dimensions. Serbia and Hungary maintain a cooperation format with China that circumvents the EU. This presentation of European unity vis-à-vis China is customary for Macron, following his visit to Beijing in April 2023 with von der Leyen, and his invitation to then German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker during a Xi visit to Paris in March 2019.