BEIJING, May 13, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Five days and six nights, three countries and four
cities, over 30 bilateral or multilateral activities... these
figures encapsulate Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent
visit to Europe, the first of its
kind in five years.
Chinese national flags adorned the cities, with crowds eagerly
welcoming President Xi. The Global Times reporters observed these
details during the visit, highlighting the anticipation in the
continent to strengthen friendship and cooperation between
China and the three countries of
France, Serbia, and Hungary. People across the continent hoped
that the visit would pave the way for stronger ties between
China and the three countries, as
well as with Europe as a
whole.
During a press conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that President Xi's recent state
visits have solidified China's
relations with the three European countries and relaunched China-EU
cooperation.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist
Party of China (CPC) Central
Committee, described Xi's Europe
trip as a journey to carry forward friendship, enhance mutual
trust, boost confidence and chart the course for the future.
Personal touch
French President Emmanuel Macron
invited Xi to meet at the Pyrenees Mountains, a mountainous area in
southern France which is close to
the home of Macron's maternal grandmother.
It seems that it has become a routine that the two heads of
state treat each other with something beyond the courtesy of a
normal state visit. In March 2019, in
the French city of Nice, Macron received Xi at Villa Kerylos, a
century-old house overlooking the Mediterranean. Later that year,
President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan met with Macron and his wife
Brigitte Macron in the Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai.
In April 2023 when the Chinese and
French top leaders met for informal talks in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong Province, they listened to the guqin
(Chinese zither) melody "High Mountain and Flowing Water" at Baiyun
Hall.
This year, on a cold snowy spring day, the two leaders continued
to write the story of "High Mountain and Flowing Water," showing
the world that despite China and
France being an Eastern power and
a Western power respectively, they can still cooperate on
bilateral, regional and world affairs.
A local resident from a town near the Pyrenees is no stranger to
China. He told the Global Times
that his niece used to study in Shanghai and now works at a multinational
company that has many businesses in China. A cyclist at the Pyrenees Mountains,
who cannot speak English very well, said "friendship" when asked
about the meeting between Xi and Macron at the mountain.
Xi's visit coincided with the 60th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Thanks to former French president
general Charles de Gaulle's grand
vision and his advocacy for French autonomy, he made this bold
decision 60 years ago, making France the first Western country to establish
official ties with China.
In 2014, when Xi visited France, he went to the Charles de Gaulle
Foundation. This time, the Global Times paid a visit there and had
director of the foundation to recall Xi's visit 10 years ago and
what prompted general de Gaulle to make the decision.
"President Xi laid a wreath in honor of General de Gaulle in the
office where he worked from 1947 to 1958. Gifts were exchanged,"
Antoine Broussy, director of the foundation, told the Global Times,
and showed a guest book on which President Xi wrote: "Paying
Tribute to the Great Man and Composing a New Chapter in Chinese and
French History."
In a showroom on the ground floor of the Charles de Gaulle
Foundation, a bronze half-body statue of de Gaulle stands. He looks
contemplative, apparently observing the historical trajectory of
China-France relations.
Steel-clad friends
During his stay in Serbia, a country Xi visited eight years ago,
the Chinese president presented a special gift to Serbian President
Aleksandar Vucic - steel models in
the shape of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and the Church of Saint Sava in
Belgrade.
The models were made from steel produced by the HBIS Smederevo
steel plant, or Hesteel Serbia, a century-old factory which was
invigorated through close cooperation between China and Serbia.
Xi visited the plant in June 2016,
months after China's Hesteel Group
purchased this venture on the verge of closure and the future of
its more than 5,000 employees was unsettled.
Xi interacted with the workers and encouraged them to work hard
to bring benefits to local residents. Factory workers presented a
round plate with the silhouette of the steel plant to Xi as a
gift.
The visit significantly boosted the morale of all the workers,
and encouraged the Chinese executive team to optimize production
and management. Smiles returned to the faces of Serbian workers as
they felt secure and began to "plan for the future."
Hesteel Serbia now has become a major exporter in the Balkan
country and a crucial taxpayer. Its success is an embodiment of the
"ironclad" friendship between China and Serbia.
Before his state visit this time, Xi replied to a letter written
by Serbian steelworkers who shared the progress the steel plant had
achieved and expressed their appreciation for Xi's care and
support.
When presenting the steel models to Vucic on Wednesday, Xi said
we are now "steel-clad friends with even stronger ties than
iron-clad friends."
Now standing on the site is the China Cultural Center, for which
Xi laid the foundation stone in 2016. This site has now gained a
new life while retaining the sentiment of friendship.
Carefully decorated with Chinese elements, the center offers
courses on Chinese, calligraphy, Tai
Chi, and guzheng, a traditional musical instrument. The
center also holds a library which has a collection ranging from
language learning materials and dictionaries, to popular novels and
classics.
Various cultural events are held here, and the center issues
commemorative stamps with Serbian Post biannually, the Global Times
learned from the center.
Many locals also come to the center for classes out of interest,
gain better knowledge of China and
Chinese culture.
Milica Milovic, the first Serbian
employee at the center, told the Global Times that working at the
center is really a pride as she is now part of the strong
China-Serbia friendship.
This ironclad friendship has become deeper and deeper through
efforts of every ordinary Chinese and Serbian who are contributing
to bilateral exchanges and friendliness.
A East-West model
Upon President Xi's arrival in Budapest, the final stop on his five-day
European visit, Chinese national flags were placed next to
Hungarian flags on the Elisabeth Bridge in this beautiful
capital.
Xi previously visited Hungary
in 2009. Some things have changed, while some have not. The Danube
River still flows silently and gently, witnessing the development
of relations between China and
Hungary. During Xi's visit this
time, the two countries elevated bilateral relations to an
all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new
era.
What deeply impressed President Xi during his state visit to
Hungary, he said, was a Hungarian
girl who presented flowers to him when he landed in Budapest. She was the same girl who presented
flowers to Xi 15 years ago. The president recollected that
encounter: "You've grown up. You were only this tall back then," he
said, making a gesture with his hand.
The girl can speak fluent Chinese. So can many young Hungarians,
who have cultivated a strong interest in China and the Chinese language as exchanges
between China and Hungary have flourished over the last couple
of years. In Buda Castle, the
historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian Kings, nearly
half of the tourists come from China, and they have a tourist guide who can
speak Chinese very well.
Many Hungarians who speak fluent Chinese learned the language at
the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school in Budapest. Established in 2004, the
Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school is a 12-year all-through public
school that teaches in both Chinese and Hungarian.
In October 2009, Xi, then Chinese
vice president, visited the school during his visit to Hungary. Today, a group photo of Xi and the
school's students and teachers, as well as Xi's reply letter to the
students in early 2023, hangs on the wall in the school's
hallway.
Xin Hua, director and chair
professor of the Center for European Union Studies, Shanghai
International Studies University, told the Global Times that an
important reason that China and
Hungary can develop friendly ties
is that the two countries have similar historical and cultural
traditions.
"Welcome home!" Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban greeted Xi at the airport. The next
day, Xi was received with a military ceremony in the Lion Courtyard
of Buda Castle.
In an interview with Chinese media, Hungarian Prime Minister
Orban explained what "home" means.
"We are settled here in the West, but the origin is very
important. So, we know that relatives are somewhere, they are far
away. So, when somebody from the East is coming to Hungary, especially with the high civilization
for several thousands of years as China, it always has a special emotional
element of that meeting," Orban said.
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-times-xis-footsteps-xis-europe-trip-carries-forward-friendship-charts-the-course-for-the-future-302144066.html
SOURCE Global Times