Xi Jinping to Separate Europe From the U.S.

Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping will travel to Europe next week. He hopes to convince the European Union’s leadership that Beijing has much more to offer economically than the United States, an April 29 Bloomberg report said.

Chinese investment: During his five-day visit, Xi is set to travel to France, Hungary and Serbia, in his first visit to the Continent in five years. All three nations are seeking more investment from China and appear open to opposing the U.S.-led global order.

French President Emmanuel Macron has recently called for Europe to be independent of America. Xi is expected to encourage such sentiments, partly with an offer to considerably increase Chinese spending in France’s electric vehicle battery sector.

Emmanuel Macron offers Xi the opportunity to negotiate with a leading EU power that’s proved willing to carve a more independent path. [This trip] is an effort to try to pull at parts of Europe that Xi feels might be more sympathetic to his position.
—Chong Ja Ian, professor of political science at National University of Singapore

Hungary is also emerging as a strategic partner for China, as the nation has closely aligned with China’s main partner, Russia, in several notable areas. Hungary has blocked or weakened EU policies unfavorable to Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delayed Sweden’s nato membership and EU aid for Ukraine.

Xi is expected to pull Hungary deeper into the Russia-China orbit by opening a major factory for Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor Ltd. in the nation.

Serbia has already built what the Chinese call an “iron-clad friendship” with Beijing. This happened in part due to China delivering an antiaircraft missile system to Serbia in a semi-secret 2022 deal. Xi is expected to pull Serbia even closer by mapping out new plans for China-Serbia cooperation and exchanges.

Better than the U.S? It is no coincidence that Xi’s visit will prioritize countries that are more likely to share his opposition to a U.S.-led global order.

“I think it’s part of an attempt to persuade the Europeans that there are better options, that better relations are possible,” said Duncan Freeman, a lecturer on China-Europe relations at the Brussels Management School in Belgium.

The Trumpet says: Watch for the trade relationship between Europe and China to grow stronger at the expense of the U.S. Bible prophecies in Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 27 show that Europe and China will soon be the main powers leading a massive anti-American trade alliance.

To learn more, read our Trends article “Why the Trumpet Watches the Development of a Massive Anti-American Trade Bloc.”