Xi Jinping's visit to Europe and differences within the EU over China strategy

Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Europe next week, for the first time in five years (except for Vladimir Putin's visit last year to Moscow). The tour could highlight European divisions over trade with Beijing and how the EU positions itself between the United States and China, reports Reuters, taken from News.ro.

The Chinese president will visit, between June 5 and 10, France and the two European allies of Serbia and Hungary. The visit comes as the EU threatens to hit China's electric vehicle and green energy sector with tariffs on huge subsidies that the European bloc says give Chinese manufacturers an unfair competitive advantage over the European market.

In a context where the Chinese economy is facing headwinds and the United States is moving closer to companies in this country, the European Union could have some influence on Beijing. But the bloc's 27 members are not clearly aligned, undermining their ability to shape Chinese thinking, analysts say.

The support provided to Russia by Beijing, an aspect on which the regulation of the EU-China relationship depends

This visit is overshadowed by European concerns linked to Chinese support for the Russian war economy, after two years of military campaign in Ukraine.

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said Xi's visit “will inject stability into the development of China-Europe relations and make new contributions to peace and stability in the world “.

Xi's goal would be to neutralize the EU's economic security agenda, including tariff threats, by exploiting internal differences, said Mathieu Duchatel, a senior researcher at the Institut Montaigne. “There is a very strong element of divide and rule,” Duchatel said of China’s strategy toward Europe. “It’s not hidden, but in plain sight,” adds the expert.

European companies and governments have long complained about restricted access to the Chinese market and unfair competition. A study by the Kiel Institute estimates that China's subsidies to its companies are three to nine times higher than those provided by other major economies.

Germany and France are still far from reaching a common approach on China

The European Commission has the exclusive right to direct trade policy for the entire European Union, but within the European bloc, member states have faced difficulties in agreeing on how to resolve the trade imbalance.

French President Emmanuel Macron is following a more aggressive EU stance on subsidies and has warned that the EU risks being left behind if it does not allow waivers of its own competition rules in the face of “subsidies”. excessive” of China and the United States. “We regulate too much, we don’t invest enough, we don’t protect enough,” Macron told The Economist in an interview published Thursday.

In April, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pressed Xi for better access to the Chinese market for German companies. But when it comes to the EU's anti-subsidy investigations, apparently eager to avoid antagonizing Beijing, he said the bloc should not act out of protectionist interests, even if competition should be fair, writes Reuters, drawn from News.ro.

Some French government officials say privately they fear Berlin is trying to undermine the electric vehicle investigation, which has targeted Chinese automakers BYD, Geely and SAIC. China is a key market for Germany's export-based economy and for automakers such as BMW and Mercedez-Benz.

Scholz had dinner with Macron in Paris on Thursday, a meeting the wives also attended, two sources said.

Noah Barkin, senior adviser to the Rhodium Group, which tracks EU-China relations, said Macron would encourage Scholz and join him and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for four-way talks with Xi in the capital French while Paris tries to do so. present a united front. The Elysée declined to comment.

“A worrying gap has opened up between the German position towards China, on the one hand, and the French position and that of the European Commission, on the other hand. There is simply a greater will “Paris and Brussels are more likely to stand up to Beijing on the trade front than Berlin,” Barkin explained.

“Europe has many levers, but these levers disappear if European creditors send different messages to Xi,” warned the analyst.

A Macron aide said the French leader would add his voice to calls from Washington, Brussels, Berlin and elsewhere for China to end exports to Russia of “dual-use” and other technologies that support Russian war effort.

In Serbia and Hungary, any public comments by Xi on Russia will face intense scrutiny.

Xi is expected to receive Russian President Vladimir Putin in China later in May.

Observers say Xi's choice between Serbia and Hungary was aimed at bringing together two pro-Russian European countries that are major beneficiaries of Chinese investment, including financial aid for a delayed railway project meant to connect the two capitals.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he was honored by Xi's visit and hoped that a free trade agreement between the two countries, signed last October, would come into force on July 1.

Chinese analysts say Xi could use his stopover in Belgrade, which coincides with the 20th anniversary of NATO's bombing of the Chinese embassy there, to highlight China's anti-NATO agenda.

China has stepped up Russia's efforts to accuse the United States and NATO of escalating the war in Ukraine by supplying weapons to kyiv.

Hungary, in turn, has a history of blocking EU statements criticizing China in terms of human rights.

Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations researcher, said the outreach to Serbia and Hungary is part of China's efforts to deepen divisions within the West.

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