Why is the Chinese president visiting Serbia and Hungary?
Chinese and Serbian flags were hoisted all over Belgrade on Tuesday for the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Coming after a stop in Paris, Xi's state visit to Serbia coincides with the 25th anniversary of the 1999 bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, which was hit by a US Air Force strike during NATO's Kosovo campaign in 1999.
The bombing was eventually acknowledged by Washington as a mistake, but it remains a sore point in Sino-American relations.
"To some extent, the memory [of the bombing] is kept artificially alive, so that it can be solicited whenever it is deemed necessary, to pile on the pressure when they need it," says Sven Biscop, Professor of European Foreign Policy and Security at the University of Ghent.
But the visit is about more than a historical memory. In recent years, Beijing has invested heavily in Serbia; Chinese capital owns factories and mines, builds roads, and is financing the construction of a railway line between Belgrade and Budapest. Chinese locomotives will soon replace the older socialist-era trains currently running there.
As it continues to invest in Serbia, China is widely accused of causing pollution and environmental degradation.
"In countries like Serbia, ecology takes second place to the economy," explains Mijat Lakićević, economic analyst at Serbian economics magazine Novi Magazin.
Meanwhile, a Chinese tyre factory is also facing accusations of human trafficking and exploiting Vietnamese and Indian workers.
Beijing's gateway to Europe
Xi's next stop is Hungary, whose government has cultivated close ties with Beijing and Moscow, where he will visit from 8-10 May.
Hungary is the first member of the European Union to join China's Belt and Road development programme and is seen by many in Europe and China alike as Beijing’s gateway to the European continent.
"For the Chinese, it is now very important to relocate at least part of their production plant from China to Europe to stay and produce within the limits of the European Union," Tamas Matura, analyst and founder of the Centre for Asian Studies of Central and Eastern Europe said, "probably because of the increasing level of protectionism in Europe."
On the other hand, Brussels is advocating for protectionist measures to limit China's economic ambitions in Europe.
The European Commission has opened investigations into Chinese subsidies to electric vehicles and solar panels, accusing them of distorting competition.
