What to expect from Xi's Europe visit

These are exciting times for EU-China relations. Just a few months ago, the two sides agreed to the 2020 Strategic Agenda. The second session of the 12th National People's Congress has just ended in China, and President Xi Jinping will visit Brussels at the end of this month, becoming the first Chinese president to visit the European Union headquarters. The course seems to be set for change.

But will Xi's visit fulfill expectations and push relations to a higher level? His visit to EU institutions will come at the end of a European tour which begins in The Hague with the Nuclear Security Summit on March 24-25. After that he will embark on a three-day visit to France, followed by visits to Germany and Belgium. Xi's intensive series of meetings with European leaders should enable both sides to discuss and agree to the priorities for their relationship. But with the crisis in Ukraine dominating international discussions, it may be difficult to focus on other topics when Xi meets EU leaders.

On the agenda for the meeting with the European Parliament President Martin Schulz are the political, parliamentary and commercial ties between the EU and China. Schulz is likely to bring up China's reticence on the situation in Ukraine and also raise the EU-China human rights dimension relations.