XI JINPING, the man tipped to become China’s next supreme leader, began a visit to the US, Ireland and Turkey yesterday that many hope will give clues as to the future course of the world’s most populous nation in the next decade.
Currently vice-president, Mr Xi will begin the process of taking over the reins from current leader, President Hu Jintao, at the 18th Communist Party congress in October, when he is set to be made general secretary of the party.
The visit by the leader of the emerging giant of the global economy is a landmark one for Ireland and is recognition of the country’s position as a gateway to Europe and as a trading partner.
During the US leg, Mr Xi will meet President Barack Obama and other top officials in Washington.
Vice foreign minister Cui Tiankai said the US visit was “important high-level interaction” that he hoped would help push the China-US relationship forward.
“Ultimately, the development of the bilateral ties is determined by that of the relationship between the two peoples,” he added.
While overall relations between the world’s biggest and second-biggest economies are good, the visit takes place at a time of growing tensions between Beijing and Washington.
The Americans are annoyed by Beijing’s economic policies, believing China is keeping its currency weak to boost its exports to the US – the US trade deficit with China widened to €153 billion last year. It also fears Chinese expansionism in the region.
For its part, China feels Washington is trying to expand its influence in Asia by boosting its military presence there, and that it constantly meddles in human rights, which it sees as a domestic issue and none of Washington’s business.
“Judging from the present situation of China-US relations, the strategic mutual trust between the two sides still lags far behind the common interests they actually share,” a group of leading scholars wrote in a piece in the English-language China Daily newspaper.
During his visit to the US, Mr Xi will head to the Corn Belt to visit a town in Iowa where he stayed 27 years ago as a junior cadre, and have tea with old friends there.
This has been read as a sign that Mr Xi is keen to mend any broken fences in Sino-US relations.
He will then visit Ireland before heading to Turkey.
The focus during the Irish leg will be on boosting trade in China, which is a key growth market for Irish exports.
Trade between Ireland and China was worth almost €8.3 billion in 2010. This includes trade in services of €2.7 billion, of which exports were €2.25 billion and imports were €478 million – Ireland is one of very few countries to run a trade surplus with China.
Exports of goods were worth €2.7 billion, €257 million of which were from indigenous Irish companies, and homegrown exports to China have grown at 15 per cent per annum over the past five years.
China is a market of growing importance for Irish food and drinks exporters and is a leading destination for Irish agricultural commodities, while the country’s students are a key market for the higher education sector in Ireland.
There has been much speculation about what kind of leadership his will offer, and no one knows if he will be a reforming force or not.
His leadership looks set to try and soften China’s image abroad, all the while staying firm on the domestic political issues such as Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan.
Most Chinese people know him because of his wife, the folk singer Peng Liyuan, while he also has a daughter at Harvard and is known as a charming figure with a sharp mind.
His father was veteran revolutionary, Xi Zhongxun, who was deputy prime minister from 1959 to 1962.
Mr Xi has a reputation as a graft-buster, having taken over as party boss in Shanghai in 2007 when his predecessor Chen Liangyu was felled in a corruption scandal.