Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will pay a state visit to China this week, according to Lula's office. By far, China has welcomed heads of state for the second week in a row.

Recently, diplomatic events hosted by China have reached a new peak. World leaders such as Spain's prime minister Pedro Sánchez, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, French President Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have visited China in succession. So why are they all heading to China?

One crucial factor lies in the full recovery of China's economy.

In the first two months of this year, China's import and export value have topped 6 trillion yuan, together with a year-on-year increase of 3.5% in the total retail sales of consumer goods, which indicates a rapid growth in the consumer market. International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva recently noted that China's economic contribution to the world economy is expected to reach or exceed one-third in 2023.

On the other hand, factors of instability including the rising uncertainty and risk of the world economy since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, the increasing interest rates by the Federal Reserve, and ten rounds of sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union have aggravated the inflation in countries. All these have added insult to injury to the fragile European economy.

Against such a backdrop, many countries hope to boost their economy through stronger economic and trade ties with China.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has avowed on the eve of his visit to China this year that China is the largest trading partner for Singapore and other Southeast Asia countries. For such a big economic opportunity, Singapore attached great importance to its trade relations with China.

Secondly, strengthening political cooperation to manage regional issues is also a major topic on the agenda.

The Ukraine crisis is one of the major topics in the Sino-French, Sino-European and the trilateral meeting. All three parties seek to reduce or avoid negative spillovers by the Ukraine crisis in hope of preventing the worsening crisis.

Before the trip to China, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen publicly commented in a speech on the Ukraine crisis and its impact on China-EU relations, with an appeal for efforts from China to make for a "just peace" in Ukraine. French President Macron also stated that "it is important to get China on our side as much as possible."

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also stressed that other countries should acknowledge the fact that "Today's China is not what it used to be", and it now has a greater voice in international affairs.

This can also be seen in Beijing's recent role as a "stabilizer" in international affairs. For instance, China released a 12-point document named China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis on February 24th. What's more, under China's mediation recently, Saudi Arabia and Iran formally restored diplomatic ties, a move that has also led to positive contacts between Saudi Arabia and Syria, Egypt and Turkey, and other Middle Eastern countries.

For all countries, especially Europe, no matter in terms of economic cooperation or the decreasing risk of spillover from the Ukraine crisis, it is clear who is more responsive to public opinion and more in line with the laws of world development than the United States, which still stubbornly insists on "hegemony" and profits from stirring up relations between countries or even subverting regimes.

深度观察丨外国政要为何密集访华

根据巴西总统办公室消息，本周，卢拉总统将对中国进行国事访问。中国连续两周迎接国家元首到访。

近期，中国主场外交迎来了一个新的高峰。西班牙首相桑切斯、马来西亚总理安瓦尔、新加坡总理李显龙、法国总统马克龙、欧盟委员会主席冯德莱恩等相继访华，他们不约而同奔赴中国，究竟为何？

一个非常重要的原因是，中国经济正在全面恢复。

今年前两个月中国进出口总值超过6万亿元，社会消费品零售总额同比增长3.5%，消费市场快速转暖。国际货币基金组织（IMF）总裁格奥尔基耶娃近日表示，预计2023年中国经济对世界经济的贡献率将达到甚至超过三分之一。

而另一边，乌克兰危机爆发以来，世界经济的不确定性和风险性再次上升，美联储加息、欧盟对俄进行了十轮制裁等因素，让各国通胀愈发严峻。本就疲软的欧洲经济再度雪上加霜。

在世界经济不确定性和风险上升背景下，很多国家希望通过与中国进一步加强经贸合作，提振本国经济。

在此次访华前夕，新加坡总理李显龙就曾公开表示，对每个东南亚国家来说，中国都是最大的贸易伙伴，新加坡也是如此。这是一个巨大的经济机遇，新加坡非常重视与中国的贸易关系。

第二，加强政治合作管控地区热点也是一个重大议题。

在中法、中欧以及三方会晤中，乌克兰危机是其中一个重要话题。三方都不希望危机恶化失控，力求降低乃至避免乌克兰危机的外溢效应。

在出访中国之前，欧盟委员会主席冯德莱恩曾在演讲中公开评价乌克兰危机及其对中欧关系造成的影响，并呼吁中国为乌克兰的“公正的和平”而努力。马克龙总统也曾坦言：“必须尽可能让中国站到我们这一边。”

新加坡总理李显龙也说，其他国家必须接受一个事实，“当今中国已不是过去的中国了”，在国际事务中的发言权也更大。

这也能从北京在近期国际事务中发挥的“稳定器”作用中窥见端倪。2月24日，中国发布了关于政治解决乌克兰危机的12点立场。近日，在中国斡旋下，沙特、伊朗两国正式复交，此举也推动了沙特与叙利亚、埃及与土耳其等中东国家开展积极接触。

对于各国特别是欧洲来说，不管是经济合作方面还是减少乌克兰危机外溢风险方面，对比美国还固执己见地坚持“霸权主义”，靠挑动各国关系、甚至颠覆政权从中获利，谁更能顺应民意、谁更符合世界发展的规律，高下立判。

撰文 | 冷爽
翻译 | 陈萱

责编 | 戚美青