President Xi Jinping will end an 11-day visit of four West European countries on April 1, a trip in which his agenda was to range from talks on weighty nuclear and economic issues to tasting wine and visiting pandas in a Belgian zoo.

On the visit, his first to Western Europe since becoming China's leader a little more than year ago, Xi was being accompanied by his wife, Peng Liyuan.

On the first stop of the tour, the Netherlands, he met King Willem Alexander and the country's Prime Minister, Mark Rutte. He also attended the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague.

He and his wife later flew to Lyon, where a visit to a university hall of residence with close historic links to China was scheduled. The couple were then due to fly to Paris and meet President Francois Hollande. Among other things, they were to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between their two countries.

On March 28, Xi was due to arrive in Germany for two days and hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

On the last leg of the trip he was to travel to Brussels and meet leaders of both Belgium and the EU.

(China Daily European Weekly 03/28/2014 page4)