Xi Jinping Will Not Attend G20, Prime Minister Li Qiang Will Arrive Instead

Xi Jinping will be the chief absentee of the “Group of twenty” scheduled to be held in India on September 9 and 10. Instead, Beijing will send Prime Minister Li Qiang to New Delhi. Vladimir Putin will not be at the meeting either and will be replaced by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“At the invitation of the Government of the Republic of India, Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit that will be held in New Delhi, India, on September 9-10. China hopes that the G20 summit in New Delhi will inspire confidence and at the same time promote prosperity and development. The G20 is an important international forum for economic cooperation, and China has always given great importance to it and participated in its activities,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said, without specifying the reason for the absence of the president.

Joe Biden explained that he was disappointed by the absence of Xi Jinping, but also signaled that he would meet with the Chinese leader in the nearest future. Their last meeting took place at the G20 meeting in Indonesia last year.