Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday skipped a BRICS business forum in South Africasending as his representative his Minister of Commerce, who to deliver a speech in his name denouncing US hegemony.

As CNN reports, Xi, who arrived in Johannesburg on Monday for the annual BRICS summit of major emerging economies, was due to address the business forum on Tuesday alongside leaders from India, Brazil and South Africa.

But the Chinese leader did not appear at the event, with no official announcement or explanation from Beijing.

Instead, his prepared statement, heavy on the “blame” on the United States that has become a point of reference in Xi’s international speeches, was delivered by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

In the statement, Xi urged people to avoid sleepwalking “on the precipice of a new cold war”.

Without directly mentioning the US, the statement said that “one country, obsessed with maintaining its hegemony, has gone to great lengths to cripple emerging markets and developing countries.”

Xi was the only BRICS leader not to attend the forum. Even the Russian President Vladimir Putinwho was unable to attend the summit in person because of an international arrest warrant for his brutal invasion of Ukraine, made the comments.

After skipping the forum, Xi later attended a dinner hosted by Ramaphosaalong with the leaders of Brazil and India and Russia’s foreign minister.

Xi’s surprise absence from the forum, noted by journalists at the event, raised questions among Chinese foreign policy analysts.

“It is highly unusual for a Chinese leader to appear in a country hosting a multilateral meeting, especially one in which China is deeply invested, such as the BRICS, and not appear at the opening event,” said Bonnie Glaser, chief executive of Indo-Pacific Program of the German Marshall Fund.

State news agency Xinhua made no mention of Xi’s absence – or in the fact that his speech was delivered by Wang, the commerce minister.