Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a welcome ceremony held upon his arrival at the Moscow Vnukovo Airport on Wednesday.
Xi arrived in the Russian capital to begin a four-day state visit and attend the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Chinese president's plane was escorted to Moscow by fighter jets sent by the Russian Air Force after entering the country's airspace.
Upon his arrival, Xi was warmly greeted by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova and other officials as he disembarked from the plane.
The Russian side then held a welcome ceremony at the airport, which saw a military band play the national anthems of both China and Russia before Xi reviewed the guard of honor and watched a march-past.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War and the World Anti-Fascist War, also known as World War II.
Xi attends welcome ceremony at Moscow airport upon arrival
Xi attends welcome ceremony at Moscow airport upon arrival
An increasing number of German consumers are considering buying electric vehicles (EVs) in the face of high fuel prices, according to a recent survey by the largest German online car trading platform, mobile.de.
As the Middle East tensions continue to drive up international oil and gas prices, the cost of automotive fuel has been rising steadily in many European countries.
According to fuel price data compiled by the German Association of the Automotive Industry, since the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on February 28, gasoline prices in Germany have risen by nearly 20 percent, while diesel prices have shot up by more than 30 percent.
Results from a recent survey by mobile.de show that if gasoline prices remain at current high levels, 43 percent of respondents said they would switch to EVs, and 36 percent cited long-term cost savings as the most important reason for considering an EV purchase.
Additionally, the platform's data show that inquiries about used EVs surged by 66 percent in the first half of March.
"We are absolutely seeing much more interest on mobile.de for electric cars. What the German energy transition couldn't do, this current geopolitical situation has done in terms of transition to electric cars," said Ajay Bhatia, CEO of mobile.de.
In addition to high oil prices, government subsidies are also a key factor driving German consumers to consider purchasing EVs.
The German government announced the resumption of subsidies in January of this year, planning to invest 3 billion euros over the next few years to provide purchase subsidies for some 800,000 EVs.
Driven by the combined effects of high oil prices and subsidy policies, German consumers' interest in EVs has grown clearly. However, it remains to be seen whether this shift will evolve into a more sustained market trend.
"How long it will stay is anyone's guess, but at the moment we're absolutely seeing an increase, and sometimes these transitions need a catalyst. And this is definitely a catalyst that is seeing the transition to electric cars speed up," said Bhatia.
More Germans interested in buying EVs due to high oil prices: survey
