Li Hui will travel next week to Russia, Ukraine, Poland, France and Germany. He is the most senior Beijing official to visit the invaded country.

China has sought in recent months to convey that it plays a powerful role in the geopolitical theater and offers an alternative to U.S. global leadership. The Chinese government announced that it intended to send a special envoy "to maintain in-depth communication" at the end of April, after the phone call of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian counterpart Volodímir Zelenski.