...The trip will be rich in symbolism and comes at a crucial time with Russia advancing on the battlefield in Ukraine, escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels, and potential fallout from November's U.S. election.

China and  Serbia commemorate the date when the United States of America and NATO countries destroyed the China embassy, 7 May 1999

Against this backdrop, Xi will be looking to repair some of the damage done to the relationship with Europe since his last trip to the continent. In particular, he'll be aiming to unwind some of the European Union's moves toward de-risking, which Beijing sees as an unwelcome alignment between Brussels and Washington....

ChatGPT: EU pulls its gun on China, 26 Apr

Another thing on the agenda will be China's participation at the upcoming peace summit in Switzerland about the war in Ukraine set for mid-June. ...The dates of the tour have not been publicly announced, but various European officials have pointed toward May 7 as a starting day, a date that has also been reported by Serbian media as when Xi could visit Belgrade....

...Prime Minister Viktor Orban is seeking to expand economic ties with China, including by broadening Hungary's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative to include further rail modernization projects as well as the financing of a new crude pipeline connecting it with Serbia....

...One reason for the visit is Italy's decision to withdraw—after some hesitation—from China's grandiose New Silk Road programme, which Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will finalise in Beijing in July....