China's leader is on a three-country tour of Europe at a time when Sino-European relations are far from perfect,
Euronews reports.
After stopping in France on Sunday and Monday as part of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Franco-Chinese diplomatic relations, President Xi Jinping will travel to Serbia and then to Hungary.
A packed programme is on the cards for Xi's first European state visit since the COVID-19 pandemic.
What are the economic and strategic stakes of this highly political tour?
The Chinese and French presidents will first address the issue of the war in Ukraine.
With China being "one of Russia’s main partners", French President Emmanuel Macron will try to encourage Beijing "to use the levers it has over Moscow" to "contribute to a resolution of this conflict," according to the Élysée.
While authorities in Beijing claim to be officially neutral towards the conflict and call for peace, they have never condemned the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Trade between Russia and China in 2023 helped mitigate the impact of economic sanctions against Moscow, meanwhile.
"The main concern is obviously all the support that can be given to China in terms of dual-use technologies and that can contribute to renewing all Russian military equipment," Elvire Fabry, senior researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute in charge of trade geopolitics, told Euronews.
Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will face the challenge of sending "a clear signal" that Europe "is ready to sanction more Chinese companies for their critical support of Moscow’s war effort," added Janka Oertel, Director of the Asia Programme of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
