China announces Xi won’t attend G20

Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the upcoming G20 Summit in South Africa, with Premier Li Qiang slated to go instead, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing has announced.

The G20 Summit will be held in Johannesburg on November 22-23. South Africa assumed the rotating presidency of the group in December 2024, becoming the first African nation to lead the forum. President Cyril Ramaphosa has said his country’s chairmanship will focus on advancing Africa’s and the Global South’s development priorities.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian told a press briefing on Thursday that Premier Li will attend the summit at South Africa’s invitation, saying that Beijing supports Pretoria’s G20 presidency and is ready to work with all parties to uphold multilateralism and an open world economy. He also emphasized the “historic significance” of the summit being held on the African continent for the first time.

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The G20 brings together 19 countries plus the European Union and the African Union. The US, which is set to assume the chairmanship next, announced last week that no officials would attend the meeting in Johannesburg. Washington has previously accused Pretoria of advancing an “anti-American” agenda. Ramaphosa said on Thursday that Washington’s decision to boycott the summit was “their loss.”

There had been speculation that the G20 summit could host a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin, however, announced last month that Putin would not attend in person, tapping presidential aide Maksim Oreshkin to lead the Russian delegation instead. Moscow has hailed South Africa’s presidency as a milestone for the continent and a constructive step toward strengthening multilateral cooperation.