Xi, 69, is set to secure a third presidential term at a Chinese Communist Party Congress starting next month.
The Chinese president Xi Jinping did not attend a dinner with the leaders of 11 countries at a regional security conference, in line with the Chinese delegation’s policy on COVID-19, an Uzbekistani government source told Reuters today.
Xi is making his first visit abroad since the start of the pandemic and is taking part this week in a conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in which China and Russia have a leading role.
This conference is held in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
However, he was absent from the group photos released late last night, when the leaders of the summit countries, including the presidents of Russia Vladimir Putin and Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan they went to dinner.
An Uzbek government source confirmed Xi’s absence and said the Chinese delegation cited its policy on COVID-19 to justify President Xi’s absence.
In Beijing, China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Xi, 69, is set to secure a third presidential term at a Chinese Communist Party Congress starting next month.
RES-EMP
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