Snubbing global summits, Xi Jinping visits flood-stricken area in northeast China

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday (September 7) visited the flood-stricken regions in a rural part of the northeastern part of the nation, state-run CGTN reported, by sharing a video in which he can be seen speaking to the locals.

Xi met with the villagers in the city of Shangzhi, which is in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The state media reported that he visited the village of Longwangmiao and walked into the fields to check the impact of the floods on the rice crops. Longwangmiao was battered by remnants of the super typhoon Doksuri.

The Chinese leader also inspected the work on the restoration of damaged houses and infrastructure while walking along the streets. He pushed the villagers to bolster their confidence to overcome difficulties as he visited their homes to learn about their losses and the supply of daily necessities.

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In the last few weeks, record rainfall battered vast swathes of northern China, flooding cities and farmlands unused to powerful storms more common in the south. Xi expressed the hope that they will soon be able to resume normal work and life.

Xi's visit attracted eyeballs as he has snubbed global summits this week. He skipped an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia this week and also missed the G20 Summit in New Delhi, a chance to meet with US President Joe Biden.

He, however, did attend a meeting in late August with leaders of the BRICS group of major emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - in South Africa.

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As quoted by the news agency Reuters, Alfred Wu, who is an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, said that Xi's speed in visiting disaster-stricken areas in China has usually been much slower than his immediate predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin, a possible consequence of Xi's centralisation of power.

"These delays are common in Xi's regime, it is not a good look for him. We know that the floods started in July, but he probably got the information late, and then in August he was busy with BRICS, so only now has his agenda cleared," Wu said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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