Nice to Xi you

Martin's four-day State trip boosts ties to region Irish food, tourism and trade top of talks agenda

- BY CIARA O'LOUGHLIN Political Correspondent

State visits by world leaders are becoming increasingly common in China due to its growing economic power, with the world's most populous country pulling out all the stops to make its high-profile visitors welcome.

They are such a regular occurrence in Beijing that Taoiseach Micheal Martin wasn't the only leader meeting China's three most powerful politicians this week.

South Korean leader Lee Jae-myung followed a similar itinerary to our Taoiseach, first visiting Beijing and then flying to Shanghai, considered the country's economic capital.

But while President Lee's team stayed in a swanky modern hotel at The Bund in Shanghai, the Taoiseach opted for the stunning but old-school The Peace Hotel.

Originally built in the 1920s, it's a symbol of Shanghai's glamorous 1930s Golden Age and attracted guests like Charlie Chaplin and Noel Coward.

According to a member of the Irish Embassy, the South Koreans remarked how it was fitting that the Irish delegation was staying in a hotel that had peace in its name.

And a peace offering with the EU on trade is essentially what the Chinese were after with the Taoiseach's visit, as Ireland takes over the Presidency of the European Council this year.

When I arrived at Beijing International Airport last week, I was immediately reminded why I was there.

On the motorway leading into the city, lampposts were decked with Chinese, South Korean and Irish flagswelcoming both leaders the minute they arrived.

MONITORED

And while the Chinese were very welcoming and friendly, the feeling of being monitored couldn't be shaken.

Unconcealed cameras fill the streets of Beijing, with police and soldiers on every street corner.

My paranoia may have gotten the better of me when I mistook a fire sprinkler in my hotel room for a camera, but it also wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.