BEIJING/PARIS –
Chinese President Xi Jinping is heading to Europe next week for the first time in five years on a visit that could expose European divisions over trade with Beijing and how the continent is positioning itself as a pole between the United States and China.
Xi is traveling to France, Serbia and Hungary at a time when the European Union is threatening to slap China’s electric car and green energy industries with tariffs over huge subsidies that the bloc says give manufacturers in China an unfair advantage.
With the Chinese economy facing headwinds and the US closing itself off to Chinese companies, the European Union could have some leverage over Beijing.
