Still, US President Donald Trump's audacious attack on Saturday, in which Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was captured, hands China an unexpected opportunity that Beijing would likely use in the near term to amplify criticism of Washington and bolster its own standing on the international stage, analysts said.

Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, arrived in Beijing this week for the first visit by an Irish leader to China in more than a decade, placing Ireland at the centre of a rapidly evolving European strategy towards the world’s second-largest economy.

China wants to deepen cooperation with Ireland and broaden trade in sectors including aircraft leasing and healthcare, according to a Chinese state media readout on Tuesday following Premier Li Qiang's meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin,

South Korean president Lee Jae Myung laughed and posed for selfies with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday as the pair began what he described as a “new phase” in relations during his four-day visit to Beijing.

Antelope Reef is a submerged coral formation in the Western Paracels, located about 250 miles east of the Vietnamese city of Hue and roughly 175 miles southeast of China’s Sanya naval base in Hainan province.

Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin is set to have more in-depth talks on trade with China's No. 2 official on Tuesday, working to strengthen strategic ties with the world's second-largest economy amid frosty China-European Union relations.

"There were more U.S. cargoes bought by Sinograin ​and ‌total purchases are very close ‍to ⁠10 million tons," said one of the traders with direct knowledge of the deals. "We think China will buy couple of million tons more to meet the target."

Experts say Beijing may see the U.S.' seizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro not as a license to move on Taiwan as much as a chance to undermine U.S. global leadership.