Ai Weiwei wants Xi Jinping to visit his Berlin exhibition during upcoming visit to Germany

Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has said he hopes President Xi Jinping makes time to see his exhibition during the leader’s visit to Germany this month, in an interview published on Saturday.

“It would be good if the president found the time to go visit the exhibition. He would see how a man of the same age as him and from the same background can become a totally different person,” Ai told the daily Suddeutsche Zeitung.

Xi is due to pass through Berlin at the end of this month as part of a European tour that runs from March 22 to April 1.

The largest-ever exhibition of Ai’s work is about to open at Berlin’s Martin-Gropius Bau hall. The outspoken artist is unable to attend as his passport was confiscated in 2011 following a nearly three-month detention.

“We both belong to what is known as the second red generation. Our parents were the generation that founded communism. In fact, his father and my father were good friends,” said Ai.