Beijing, Nov 13, (dpa/GNA) – Chinese President, Xi Jinping, has cancelled his participation in the G20 summit of leading industrialized and emerging countries in South Africa, following previous withdrawals by US President Donald Trump, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday, Prime Minister Li Qiang will represent the People’s Republic in Johannesburg later this month.
This means that, for the first time since the group was formed, the presidents of the three most powerful G20 countries – the United States, Russia and China, will not be attending the summit.
The Russians are sending the deputy head of the presidential administration, Maxim Oreshkin.
Trump planned to be represented by Vice President JD Vance. Recently, however, he threatened to boycott the summit because he accused South Africa of killing white farmers and illegally confiscating their land. He did not provide any evidence for this.
The G20 group comprises 19 countries, the European Union and the African Union. The countries include major Western democracies such as the US, Germany and the United Kingdom, but also authoritarian states such as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz plans to attend the meeting on November 22 and 23.
GNA