Olaf Scholz was received by Xi Jinping on Tuesday morning at the end of his three-day trip to China, Germany's largest trading partner. This trip comes at a time when Xi Jinping, who has never explicitly condemned the Russian war against Ukraine, is under fire from Western criticism for his displayed proximity to Moscow and President Vladimir Putin.
The visit also takes place when the European Union has engaged in a standoff with China, which it accuses of distorting the European market by flooding it with low-cost products. “My meeting with President Xi will also focus on how we can further contribute to a just peace in Ukraine,” wrote OlafScholz on the social media network my last visit to China. The German Chancellor was accompanied by a large delegation of ministers and heads of state on his visit to the world's second largest economy. He was expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss a “just peace” in Ukraine during their meeting in Beijing.