Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to skip the upcoming G20 summit in India, according to sources familiar with the matter in both India and China. Instead, Premier Li Qiang is expected to represent Beijing at the meeting, which will take place on September 9-10 in New Delhi. Representatives from the Indian and Chinese foreign ministries have not yet commented on the matter.
Li Qiang is also expected to attend a summit of East and Southeast Asian leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia from September 5-7, as reported by Kyodo.
The G20 summit in India was anticipated as a potential meeting ground for Xi and US President Joe Biden, who has confirmed his attendance. Both superpowers have been seeking to stabilize relations, and Xi and Biden last met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia in November of last year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already announced that he will not be attending the summit in New Delhi and will send his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov instead.
According to a senior government official from India, “we are aware that the premier will come, in place of Xi.”
In China, two foreign diplomats and a government official from another G20 country have stated that Xi will likely not be attending the summit. However, the reasons for his expected absence are currently unknown. All sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The anticipation of a meeting between Xi and Biden has been fueled by a series of visits to Beijing by top US officials in recent months, including a trip by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo earlier this week. Another potential summit for face-to-face talks between the two leaders is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting in San Francisco, scheduled for November 12-18.