Xi Jinping To Skip Delhi G20 Summit, Chinese Premier To Attend The Summit Instead

Chinese President Xi Jinping will skip the G20 summit in New Delhi, instead, Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit this weekend. This was confirmed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement on Monday. "At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India, on September 9 and 10”, read the statement quoting foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning. The statement further added that “China hopes the summit can consolidate consensus, convey confidence and promote development". The statement, however, didn’t clarify any reason for the absence of President Jinping.

This will be Li Qiang’s first visit to India after he took over as China’s Premier in March 2023. He is known to be President Jinping’s loyalist and is also currently regarded as No. 2 in Beijing.

This announcement came days after reports indicated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to skip the summit. However, world leaders including US President Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will attend the summit that India is hosting for the first time.​