President Xi makes first-ever visit by Chinese leader to European Union headquarters

China's President Xi Jinping attends a meeting at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Monday, March 31, 2014. China's President Xi Jinping is on a three-day visit to meet Belgian and EU officials. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe, pool) (The Associated Press)

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, right, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping, upon arrival at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Monday, March 31, 2014. China's President Xi Jinping is on a three-day visit to meet Belgian and EU officials. (AP Photo/Olivier Hoslet, pool) (The Associated Press)

China's president is meeting with the top officials of the European Union to discuss the two sides' close business ties and their wider diplomatic relations.

Xi Jinping on Monday became the first Chinese leader to visit the headquarters of the 28-country EU in Brussels.

The EU is China's largest trading partner, while China is Europe's second-largest, trailing only the U.S. China and Europe trade well over 1 billion euros worth ($1.37 billion) a day.

Xi was meeting with the head of the EU's executive arm, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Parliament leader Martin Schulz and Herman Van Rompuy, who chairs the meetings of the EU's 28 national leaders.

Xi visited Belgium as part of a wider European tour that also has taken him to France, Germany and the Netherlands.