NEW DELHI: Chinese President, Xi Jinping, is set to visit Europe next week for the first time in five years. Xi will be visiting France, Hungary and Serbia during his tour.

The visit comes as China seeks to prevent a trade war with the EU, amid growing skepticism in the bloc following numerous espionage incidents and China's continued support for Russia during the war in Ukraine.

Xi’s first stop will be Paris, he will meet the French president Emmanuel Macron, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

“The Chinese leadership is pretty clear about what they want,” said Abigaël Vasselier, the director of foreign relations at Merics, a German thinktank focused on China. 

Xi would be focused on lobbying against the EU’s anti-subsidy probes, particularly on electric vehicles (EVs) and on stabilising the bilateral relationship, Vasselier said.

The European Union might put tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) from China as early as June. This comes after the EU launched an investigation into whether China unfairly supports its own EV manufacturers. The latest they can impose these tariffs is July 4th.

China “cannot afford to have more and more restrictions to the European market”, Vasselier says, but at the same time, “China does not have an offer for Europe at this point”.

That is because one of Europe’s – and Macron’s – longstanding asks of China is for Xi to put pressure on Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, to end the war in Ukraine. “Two years into the war, the Europeans have realised … this is not going to happen,” says Vasselier.

Xi and Macron's personal connection strengthened last year when the Chinese president hosted his French counterpart for a rare private visit to Guangzhou, a city in southern China. Next week, Macron will reciprocate by inviting Xi to Hautes-Pyrénées, a mountainous region in France.