NEW DELHI: Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to skip a summit of G20 leaders in India next week.
It is likely that Premier Li Qiang will represent China at the meeting in New Delhi on 9-10 September, according to media reports.
Li is also expected to attend a summit of East and Southeast Asian leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia on 5-7 September.
The summit in New Delhi had been viewed as a venue at which Xi may meet with United States President Joe Biden, who has confirmed his attendance, as the two superpowers try to stabilise ties soured by a range of trade and geopolitical tensions.
Xi Jinping last met Joe Biden on the G20 summit’s sidelines in Bali, Indonesia, last November.
Russian president also to skip the summit
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already announced that he will not be attending the gathering and will send Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov instead.
Anticipation of a meeting between Biden and Xi has been fuelled by a stream of high US officials visiting Beijing in recent months, including a visit by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo earlier this week.
Another upcoming summit mooted for face-to-face negotiations between the two leaders is an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting in San Francisco on 12-18 November.
Xi, who secured a precedent-breaking third tenure as leader last October, has made few overseas visits since China abruptly dropped strict Covid-19 pandemic-induced border controls this year.
However, he attended a summit from leaders of the BRICS group of big emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – in South Africa last week.
Several G20 ministerial meetings in India before the summit have been contentious as China and Russia opposed joint remarks, including paragraphs condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine last year.
