Leaders looking to build China-Europe ties strengthened by Xi's UK trip
German and French state leaders' upcoming visits to China signify China's increasing influence in the global community and herald closer cooperation between China and European countries following Chinese President Xi Jinping's UK visit in October, experts said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will pay an official visit to China on October 29 and 30 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Friday.
French President Francois Hollande will also visit China on November 2 and 3, according to an e-mail sent to the Global Times on Monday from the French Embassy in Beijing.
"Xi's visit to the US and the UK and the upcoming visits from foreign leaders have shown that China has the position of a country with increasing global influence and the position of a power that is recognized and valued by many significant countries," Zhou Yongsheng, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, told the Global Times.
Echoing Zhou, Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Union Studies at Beijing's China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), told the Global Times that interaction between China and Europe has always been active, and the upcoming visits from Merkel and Hollande continue to build on this momentum.
Xi's first State visit to the UK has been highly praised by analysts for not only opening a "golden era" for China-UK relations, but also its fruitful achievements, such as multi-billion-dollar deals.
"Xi's UK visit has given other European countries incentives to further strengthen their ties with China now that the China-UK relationship has been upgraded to a global comprehensive strategic partnership," Zhang Bei, an assistant research fellow with CIIS, told the Global Times.
However, Cui believes that Merkel's visit will not lead to as many breakthroughs, as Sino-German ties are rather mature. Cui added that innovation and urbanization may be a possible theme of Merkel's visit, as 2015 has been designated the Year of China-Germany Innovative Cooperation.
Meanwhile, Hollande's second visit to China since he assumed the presidency of France in 2012 will focus on the Climate Conference in Paris, the French Embassy said.
Both Cui and Zhao remarked that many European countries are trying to move away from the stereotype of being bound to an American-oriented international order, which of course bothers the US.
A closer relationship between China and European countries meets expectation from both sides, as China is advocating global cooperation and friendship in which the US is welcome to take part, Cui noted.
"The US zero-sum game mind-set is unnecessary, and establishing closer ties with China is not equivalent to distancing one's country from the US, as interests are always the goal and driving force behind diplomatic relations," he added.
