Xi to attend G20 meet via video link

China’s President Xi Jinping will attend the Group of 20 (G20) leaders’ summit in Rome on October 30-31 via video link, China’s foreign ministry notified on Friday.

The foreign ministry’s notice stated that Xi will not be making a speech at the summit. The Chinese president has not left China since early 2020 when the severity of the coronavirus pandemic became apparent.

Other key leaders from the wealthy G20 nations, including Russian  President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, will not be attending in person. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed that he will attend in person. 

Italy, the summit’s host country, hoped for a face-to-face meeting of all leaders.

The G20, whose member nations are responsible for 80% of global carbon emissions, is regarded as an important stepping stone before the UN COP26 climate summit in Scotland, which will start on Sunday.

Xi is also expected to be a no-show at the COP26 meeting, an indication that China–the world’s biggest CO2 producer globally–has already made up its mind that it has no more concessions to offer at the UN summit after the country’s three major pledges in the previous year.