China's President Xi Jinping touched down in the Netherlands today for his first-ever Europe tour, with the continent in a diplomatic frenzy after Russia's annexation of Crimea.
Xi landed at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport shortly after noon, where he was welcomed by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima at the start of a four-country tour, Dutch public broadcaster NOS said.
Also making the first-ever Chinese state visit to the Netherlands, Xi is accompanied by his glamorous wife Peng Liyuan, several ministers, including for trade, and some 200 top business delegates.
Dutch state television showed images of the Chinese first lady, a former opera star and army general who is fluent in English, chatting with Argentine-born Queen Maxima.
Xi is to hold talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and attend a Sino-Dutch business forum before meeting US President Barack Obama on Monday.
The Chinese leader arrived ahead of a G7 meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in The Hague next week, where Obama will address the escalating showdown with Russia over Crimea.
President Vladimir Putin's absorption of Crimea from Ukraine has drawn harsh criticism and sanctions from members of the Group of Seven most-industrialised countries.
Xi is expected to meet Obama at the NSS, organised to fight nuclear terrorism, but which now risks being overshadowed by the Ukraine crisis.
US National Security Adviser Susan Rice said yesterday that Obama wanted to lead a campaign to isolate Russia over its annexation of Crimea, and any support from China would thrust home that message.
Xi's meeting with Obama will highlight the US leader's policy of rebalancing US resources towards Asia, which he will visit in April.
Chinese vice foreign minister Li Baodong has acknowledged the situation in Ukraine could come up in talks with Obama, but signalled Beijing's likely position by reiterating its regular call for "calm and restraint".
Xi's four-country trip comes a week after China lodged a rare abstention on a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution condemning Crimea's referendum on joining Russia, rather than vetoing it alongside Moscow.
