President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan, in the company of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, attend the official opening of a special park for two giant pandas on loan from China for the next 15 years. (Xinhua Photo)
President Xi Jinping received a royal welcome and an honorary knighthood in Brussels yesterday at the start of a three-day visit that will see him become the first Chinese leader to visit the headquarters of the European Union.
Dozens of royal horsemen escorted Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan as they arrived at the Royal Palace of Brussels to be greeted by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde as more than 300 people, including many Chinese, waving national flags looked on.
In the palace's Empire Room, the king bestowed the Order of Leopold on Xi, who is on the last leg of his first tour of Europe as president.
Later yesterday, the royal couple were join the Chinese pair for the official opening of a special park for two giant pandas on loan from China for the next 15 years.
Xi's trip has taken him to The Netherlands, France and Germany for bilateral talks and major business deals, as well as to last week's Nuclear Security Summit where he met US President Barack Obama.
Today, Xi is to meet European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Martin Schulz.
Business has loomed large throughout the tour, and with the European bloc China's largest trading partner - two-way trade is worth more than a billion euros (US$1.3 billion) a day - economic issues are likely to dominate at the EU, though other issues, in particular Ukraine, will also come up.
The Chinese leader's trip to the park to see female Hao Hao and companion Xing Hui, who arrived in Belgium in February, will be an acknowledgement of China's "panda diplomacy."
But the two furry national treasures have unwittingly opened a new rift in the longtime turmoil dividing Belgium's rival Dutch- and French-speaking communities.
The problem is that the rare bears, a draw for visitors, are in a zoo in French-speaking southern Wallonia, some 60 kilometers from Brussels, not far from the city of Mons whose last mayor is Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo.
The Pairi Daiza Zoo has since seen its ticket sales boom and share price soar, angering Belgium's oldest and most well-known zoo, located in the heart of the port city of Antwerp in northern Flanders.
Xi will hold talks with Di Rupo and parliament leaders today, and tomorrow visit the largest Chinese-owned company in Belgium, carmaker Volvo, bought by the Chinese firm Geely from Ford in 2010.
Belgium will be hoping for new investments. Though it has sought to sell itself to Chinese investors as "a gateway to Europe," there has been little interest up until now.
Talks between Xi and the EU's top officials today are likely to take place in an easier atmosphere than expected after both sides took steps in recent days to settle trade tiffs.
Days ahead of Xi's landmark visit, the European Commission announced it was dropping plans to open anti-dumping and anti-subsidy inquiries into Chinese telecom firms.
The move followed China's announcement that it ended an anti-dumping inquiry into EU wine imports, the second trade dispute settled in less than a week after China reached an agreement on exports of polysilicon from Europe.
Xi's visit highlights partnership with Belgium, EU
President Xi Jinping gives his best wishes to the two pandas in Belgium that are expected to bring long-term joy to Europeans.
During the welcoming ceremony at the Royal Palace in Brussels earlier on Sunday, Xi and his wife, accompanied by the king and queen, arrived at the palace escorted by officers on horseback. >>>More
