Chinese President Xi Jinping is trying to win friends and influence people in Europe during his first trip to the continent in five years. As Beijing tries to recalibrate its broader foreign policy posture, Europe is the first port of call at a time when tensions with the West have been ratcheting up in multiple domains. For the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), steadying the Chinese economy is the foremost priority, and towards that end, having a stable relationship with Europe is key when power contestation with the US is unlikely to subside any time soon. Europe's role as a balancer is critical for China to continue to shape the global balance of power in its favour.

Though there have been some tentative moves in the positive direction in the US-China relationship in recent weeks, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, was categorical at the end of his three day visit to China that Beijing was "helping fuel the biggest threat" to European security since the Cold War and that Washington would act if China did not stop supplying Russia with items used against Ukraine on the battlefield. It is no wonder that for China, Europe is seemingly a simpler alternative at this stage than managing its fraught ties with the US.

This week's visit of Xi is choreographed to send a clear message to the West that China is today positioned not only to engage with traditional powers like France but has newer partners like Serbia and Hungary, which have traditionally been allies of Moscow but are now enamoured of Chinese economic........

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