ALBAWABA – President of China Xi Jinping will skip the India G20 summit next month, Bloomberg reported via Reuters, citing unnamed official sources.
The Canada-based news agency reportedly confirmed with two Indian officials, one China-based diplomat and another government official from one of the Group of Twenty nations.
Instead, Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to represent Beijing at the meeting to be held in New Delhi, according to the report.
So far, Xi has spent only six days outside of China this year, visiting Moscow in March and attending a summit of emerging economies in South Africa earlier this month.
(From L to R) President of Comoros Azali Assoumani (L), South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Presidnet of China Xi Jinping, and Senegalese President Macky Sall attend the China-Africa Leaders' Roundtable Dialogue on the last day of the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on August 24, 2023. (Photo by ALET PRETORIUS / POOL / AFP)
The United States (US) had announced President Joe Biden will attend the India G20 summit, September 7 to 10, while Russia said it will send Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov instead of President Vladimir Putin.
This comes after US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo concluded her visit to China yesterday, Wednesday, having met with multiple top Chinese officials.
Although Raimondo was able to secure the information exchange, which brings together US and Chinese officials to facilitate and communicate clearly US policy and decisions, and the intentions behind them, the secretary was unable to make any other significant breakthrough on the trade and tech war frontier.
Raimondo was the fourth US senior official to visit China in recent months in an attempt to shore up US-China ties and demystify the business environment for American companies there.
President of China Xi Jinping (top R) walks past Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (2nd R) during the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on August 24, 2023. (Photo by Marco Longari / POOL / AFP)
US-China ties have deteriorated to their lowest point in decades, with the US issuing several policies, bans and executives orders targeting trade and investment in high-tech Chinese sectors. China has responded with multiple measures, including bans on critical minerals, disrupting supply chains around the world.
Despite the recent escalation, Raimondo explained that the US will not compromise on what it considers matters of national security, and insisted there are many other domains in which the US and China can cooperate.
However, China does not seem to be interested in this latest American offer, as officials reiterate US policies are “anti-globalization” and hostile, aimed to undermine China’s advancement.
Spectators and monitors have often expressed their optimism that Xi and Biden would meet at the upcoming India G20 summit. But it seems after Raimondo’s visit, the meeting of the heads of the world’s two largest economies seems a little far-fetched.
