China will be represented at the G20 summit in South Africa not by Xi Jinping, but by Premier Li Qiang. Earlier, U.S. and Russian Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin abandoned their trips - the former stated that his country would not be represented at the G20 at all.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, October 2025. Photo: Xie Huanchi/Xinhua/AP Photo/dpa/picture alliance China will be represented at the upcoming G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, not by President Xi Jinping, but by Premier Li Qiang. This was announced on Thursday, November 13, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.
"At the invitation of the South African government, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council of China will participate in the 20th 'Group of Twenty' summit in Johannesburg from November 21 to 23," the statement on the ministry's website said. The same announcement included the politician's trips to the meeting of heads of government of the SCO member states in Moscow on November 17-18 at the invitation of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and a visit to Zambia on November 19-20 at the invitation of the country's government.
Li Qiang already represented China at the G20 in New Delhi in 2023. The upcoming summit will be the first since 2008 that will not have the leaders of three major participating countries - the USA, China, and Russia - in attendance.
Earlier, Trump and Putin Abandoned the Trip to South Africa
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested back in late July that he would not attend the G20 summit in South Africa and would likely send someone in his place, stating that the host country is pursuing "very bad policies." In May, during South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's visit to the White House, the American leader accused the country's authorities of allegedly mass killing white farmers.
In early September, Trump reiterated that he would not attend the G20 summit. It was expected that Vice President JD Vance would represent the U.S. instead. However, in early November, the president stated that the country would not be represented at the event at all.
At the end of October, Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov announced that Putin "will not personally participate" in the G20 summit, but the country "will be represented at a respectable level." In early November, it became known that Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Maxim Oreshkin would visit South Africa on behalf of Russia. In 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, the country was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Putin attended the summit in 2020, which was held in a videoconference format due to the pandemic, as well as in person in Osaka in 2019.
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