New Delhi: It was confirmed Monday that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi later this week.
China is sending Premier Li Qiang as head of the country’s delegation, its foreign ministry said.
This is the first time that Xi has skipped a G20 event, having attended all others since becoming president in 2013.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press conference Monday, “The G20 is the main forum for international economic cooperation and China has always placed great importance on and proactively taken part in such events.”
Mao declined to directly confirm that Li’s attendance meant that Xi would not go, although she did not correct reporters who made that assertion, according to Reuters.
The confirmation comes days after G20 Special Secretary Mukesh Pardeshi said that India was awaiting something in writing from China on President Xi’s participation in the G20 Leaders Summit.
“We have seen some reports in the newspapers. But, we go by written confirmation. And we have not seen (a written confirmation). Unless we see that I am not in a position to say either way,” Pardeshi told news agency PTI.
Traditionally, the Chinese president attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), G20 and BRICS summits, while the premier — who holds the second-highest rank in China’s political system — attends the East Asia Summit, which will take place this year from 6-7 September in Indonesia.
The G20 Summit comes two weeks after Xi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a brief conversation on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, about border tensions.
Other than Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin is also not attending the Delhi event, and will send his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov – an established practice since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February.
On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden had said he was disappointed that Xi Jinping would not attend the summit of G20 leaders in India, but added that he was going to “get to see him”.
“I am disappointed… but I am going to get to see him,” Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, without elaborating.
Biden will visit India from 7-10 September for the summit of the Group of 20 nations, followed by a trip to Vietnam as his administration seeks to strengthen U.S. relations in Asia.
He also said he was looking forward to the India trip.
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