Xi 's Visit to Europe (Italy, Monaco, France)

From March 21 to 26 in 2019, President of the Chinese Communist Party, Mr. Xi Jinping visited Italy, Monaco and France. It was the first time that the President of PRC (People's Republic of China) travelled to Monaco, a small but very rich country in Europe. It was also very rare and special that during Xi's State Visit to France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Commission came to Paris to join President Emanuel Macron of France and President Xi.

 In Italy, President Xi succeeded in signing an agreement on a Chinese grand project 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI) with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. China has got an important access to 2 Italian ports ; one is Genova in the west and another is Trieste in the east. China will invest in the infrastructure of Genova and it will build train facilities around Trieste.

 Among European countries, already 20 countries (Austria, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Czech, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Malta, North Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro) signed the BRI agreement with China.  China's strategic to enter Europe is to start with small countries or countries which have economic problems. However, Italy was the first G7 country which signed the BRI agreement. How will it affect other G7 members' decisions?

 China has got therefore important sea bases in the world ; this time Genova and Trieste, and Piraeus port in Greece since 2016, then in Sri Lanka and in Djibouti. Of course, Chinese artificial base in South China Sea is a famous one.

 Moreover, as for the Road, China is already connected by train to 49 cities of 15 European countries.

 In Monaco, President Xi made a great  success for Huawei Technologies ; Monaco accepted to introduce Huawei's 5G system. Monaco is a small country, but it was a big deal for China, as the United States and some other Western countries try to eliminate Huawei from the 5G international market.

 In France, President Xi and his wife were welcome as State guests. They arrived in Nice near Monaco and went up to Paris where Chancellor Merkel and EC President Juncker joined President Macron and President Xi. President Macron wanted to concert the foreign policy vis-à-vis China, among EU countries, but how far is it possible?

 Soon, on April 9, the EU-China summit will take place in Brussel. President Xi will get more confidence, before he may face President Trump in Florida, at the end of this month.

＊「習近平総書記の訪欧」については、下記の番組にて、2019年3月25日に日本語でお話ししました。