AfD MEP Petr Bystron.Image: imago-images.de
AfD MEP Petr Bystron flew to Beijing at China’s expense. The Xinhua propaganda agency paid for the flight and luxury hotel.
January 15, 2026, 8:30 p.mJanuary 15, 2026, 8:30 p.m
Jonas Mueller-Töwe / t-online
Leading AfD politicians have recently used trips to Russia, the USA and China for media-effective productions. Now it turns out: In the slipstream of these appearances, EU MP Petr Bystron also took a trip – albeit much less publicly. The reason for this could be tricky: the trip to China in mid-November was paid for by a subsidiary of the state propaganda agency Xinhua. This is proven by Bystron’s own statements to the EU Parliament.
Luxury hotel and boat tour
According to the documents available to t-online, the “China Economic Information Service” covered the costs of both the business class flight and two nights’ accommodation in the luxurious Sheraton Beijing Lize Hotel. On site, Bystron took part in the “2025 Think Tank Annual Conference on Megacity Governance (Beijing)”, which was also organized by the state news agency. The program not only included workshops and lectures, but also an evening boat trip across the Liangma River. Bystron did not respond to questions from t-online about the China trip.
Bystron in Beijing: The organizing Xinhua quoted him as saying that he expects increased cooperation in the areas of energy efficiency, adaptation to climate change and the digitalization of public services in the future.Image: Xinhua
The trip, financed from China, comes at a time for the AfD that is already overshadowed by China and Russia affairs: an assistant of Bystron’s party colleague Maximilian Krah was sentenced to almost five years in prison at the end of September for spying for a Chinese intelligence service. The court found it proven that Jian Guo handed over numerous documents from the European Parliament to Chinese senior officers and spied on the exiled opposition. The verdict is not yet final.
Corporate networks and diamonds
An investigation is also underway against Krah himself: As a lawyer, he received at least 50,000 euros from a company network attributed to Guo, which t-online uncovered. The Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the suspicion that he was bribed and concealed the origin of the funds. Krah denies any wrongdoing. The party executive regularly downplayed the affair.
However, the spy also traveled through China with AfD members of the Bundestag Frank Rinck and Jan Wenzel Schmidt, as t-online reported. They visited a factory for the production of artificial diamonds – while Schmidt’s mother’s partner set up a diamond trade in Germany through shell companies. A business card identified Schmidt as sales manager. Guo wrote a dossier entitled “Project artificial diamonds”.
Discreet conversation in Strasbourg
Now there is apparently another affair involving Bystron for the AfD: in May 2025 he had already taken part in a reception at the Chinese embassy at the Hilton Hotel Strasbourg. According to information from t-online, the lobbyist Lin Gai, who had been arranging trips financed by China to EU representatives for years, was also present there. To do this, he used a dubious “EU-China Friendship Group”, in which Krah also had a management position.
A photo from the reception in May shows Gai in conversation with AfD MP Hans Neuhoff and non-attached MP Fernand Kartheiser from Luxembourg. Kartheiser confirmed to t-online in December that the lobbyist had offered him a trip to China. Neuhoff and Bystron did not respond to inquiries about this.
Bystron with Romanian MP Diana Șoșoacă at the reception: Șoșoacă also traveled to China a few months after the reception.Image: Facebook: Diana Șoșoacă
Remarkable: Neuhoff and Kartheiser as well as Bystron and Krah were also in contact with the Russian influence network of oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, which repeatedly brings the AfD into the headlines.
The Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office has long been investigating Bystron as to whether he received bribes from the network, which he vehemently denies. An initial suspicion is still being examined against Krah in preliminary investigations. He had lobbied for Medvedchuk for years, but denied receiving any money for it.
Recently, several AfD MPs traveled to Russia for a conference organized by the Medvedchuk network. Earlier this year, party leader Tino Chrupalla also made an official visit to China. In mid-2023, the AfD parliamentary group made its first joint trip there. Among the travelers: Alice Weidel and Petr Bystron.