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Chinese President Xi Jinping is heading to Europe for the first time in five years (other than Russia). Xi's itinerary includes a stop in Paris, marking 60 years of French-Chinese diplomatic relations, followed by trips to Serbia and Hungary, including a visit to Belgrade on the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy there.

While in Paris, Xi will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for trilateral talks on China's broader relations with the EU. The meeting comes a month before Macron hosts U.S. President Biden for a similar visit.

It's anticipated that tariffs and subsidies will be a hot topic of conversation, as the EU has initiated a probe into state subsidies for made-in-China electric vehicles, and China has started a similar probe into the French cognac market.

Additionally, the leaders will likely bring up their concerns of China's involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war. Similar to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meeting with Xi last week, Macron said he will "share concerns about the activities of certain Chinese companies despite sanctions taken against Russia." However, he has also indicated that France would not necessarily always align with the U.S. in their China policy.

The meeting follows both the U.S. and the EU claims from earlier this month that there's been a surge of components being supplied from China to Russia that could be used to make weapons in their efforts against Ukraine, which China has denied.

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