President Xi Jinping will not attend the upcoming G20 Summit in South Africa, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has announced. Premier Li Qiang will represent the country in South Africa later this month. The G20 Summit will be held in Johannesburg on November 22-23. South Africa, which assumed the rotating presidency of the group in December 2024, is the first African nation to lead the forum. President Cyril Ramaphosa said his country’s chairmanship will focus on advancing Africa’s and the Global South’s development priorities. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian stated that Premier Li will attend the summit at South Africa’s invitation, supporting Pretoria’s G20 presidency and committing to uphold multilateralism and an open world economy. He emphasized the ‘historic significance’ of the summit being held on the African continent for the first time.
The G20 gathers 19 countries, the European Union, and the African Union. The United States, 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 commented on the US boycott, stating it was ‘their loss.’ There were previously speculations about the G20 summit hosting 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, appointing presidential aide Maksim Oreshkin to lead the Russian delegation instead. Moscow praised South Africa’s presidency as a milestone for the continent and a constructive step towards strengthening multilateral cooperation.