If one lands at the Beijing airport at dusk, they see thousands of tall buildings, some of them with facades framed by strips of colored LED lights, but many plunged into darkness. This image helps to understand the new economic framework of China, where more than 800 million people have risen out of poverty since 1980, and the country dedicates significant resources to construction. A bubble in the form of skyscrapers, causing 50% of homes to be empty and with no prospects of being filled, as the Asian giant faces a serious demographic problem, despite the end of the one-child policy, young women do not want to be mothers. The empty buildings reflect State capitalism. And in that skyline, King Felipe and Queen Letizia have landed in Beijing minutes before five in the afternoon (local time) after starting their State visit with a day in Chengdu.
Felipe VI attended an important economic forum in the province known for pandas in the morning, accompanied by the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo. The Monarch, who devoted part of his speech to advocating the need to establish transparent commercial relationships, dared to speak Chinese at the beginning of his words. The Kings arrived in the capital with the challenge of improving relations between the two countries and achieving a better trade balance. Beijing enthusiastically welcomes the visit of a European Monarch after seven years without arrivals of heads of state at that level.
On the runway where the Air and Space Army plane landed, a red carpet was rolled out. A guard of honor welcomed the Kings, who were picked up by a convoy of cars and motorcycles at the edge of the runway and taken to their first institutional commitment, of a private nature.
In a gesture of courtesy, Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, invited the Kings to a private dinner upon their arrival in the capital. Thus, although the official and political agenda of this trip will unfold on Wednesday, they have already had contact with the country's top authority, who is also the President of the Communist Party and the head of the Executive since 2012. The two couples shared a private evening at Zhongnanhai, the complex that houses the Communist Party headquarters, the Government headquarters, and the President's residence, a sort of Moncloa Palace.
Xi is the face of the new era of Chinese power. Under his leadership, he has strengthened internal control, consolidated the role of the Party in all areas, and eliminated term limits, which provides a sense of stability but reinforces the traits of the dictatorship of the People's Republic. The president moves between authoritarian pragmatism and global ambition. With the "Belt and Road" policy, with which he aims to promote the countries that made up the Silk Road and shift the center of the global geopolitical axis to that Indo-Pacific area, he has become the main rival of the United States and has created the need for European countries to strengthen ties with the Asian giant.
As a gesture of courtesy, but also as a gesture that reflects his power, Xi has invited the Kings to stay at Diaoyutai, an ancient imperial complex whose facilities are only offered for overnight stays to some Heads of State. It is a guesthouse with over 800 years of history built by the Qing dynasty.