Xi Jinping to send one of China's 'weakest premiers' to attend Delhi G20 summit
File photo of Chinese top leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang
Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the G-20 summit in New Delhi instead of Xi Jinping. This is the first time since 2013 that Xi is not attending the leaders' summit for G-20 nations.
What does it mean?
Li Qiang's arrival in New Delhi G-20 is significant since he has been described as one of the "weakest premiers" in the history of the Chinese Communist Party.
This is because somebody else is more powerful in Xi Jinping's scheme of things in China.
Xi Jinping's chief of staff Cai Qi is deemed his closest aide and the second most powerful man in Beijing. Notably, the Chinese Communist Party's ruling hierarchy lacks female representation.
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Also read |Chinese Premier Li Qiang to attend G20 Summit in India in place of Xi Jinping: Foreign ministry
Cai is also a member of the seven-member CCP Politburo Standing Committee, in charge of CCP’s Central Secretariat and Xi’s chief of staff. Thus, he serves a dual role as Politburo Standing Committee member and Xi’s chief of staff.
As director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee, Cai is now responsible for managing the daily operations of the CCP central machine and for taking care of Xi’s everyday activities as well as his physical security, Chinese affairs expert Guoguang Wu wrote in a research paper.
Li Qiang to attend G-20 summit in Delhi: The bottom-line
Li Qiang's attendance at the G-20 summit instead of Xi Jinping is expected to aid New Delhi in keeping the summit's focus on larger geo-economic issues instead of bilateral Delhi-Beijing or Beijing-Washington ties.
Xi's absence from the G20 meeting follows the incident where he did not make a speech during the BRICS business forum. He was represented by Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao.
Meanwhile, the impasse in China-US ties showed signs of improvement with top American officials, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, climate envoy John Kerry, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, visiting China one after another over the past few months.
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