Beijing’s foreign ministry said Monday that Premier Li Qiang would join the leaders of the world’s biggest economies in New Delhi this weekend, effectively confirming Xi’s absence.
The emphasis on ties with the developing world reflects Beijing’s efforts to “create an alternative… to the liberal international order dominated by the US since the end of World War Two”, said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London. “China-India relations have not been smooth since 2020, and China has been complaining that India is using the G20 to consolidate its claim of disputed territory,” she said.
“These have existed for years and will last long into the future, whether situational… events happen at this or that moment,” he said. Asked directly why Xi was not attending, spokeswoman Mao Ning said: “I made an announcement about this just now.”