Chinese Premier Li Qiang to attend G-20 summit in India

Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the G-20 summit in India later this week instead of President Xi Jinping, it was confirmed on Monday.

“At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

India is hosting the meeting with the participation of many world leaders including US President Joe Biden, except Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Li will attend the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Indonesia from Tuesday, and is expected to fly to New Delhi from Jakarta on Friday.

China said it "looks forward" to the summit reaching a "consensus on tackling challenges in the economy and development, conveying confidence to the outside world and promoting shared prosperity and growth," the state-run Global Times quoted the ministry as saying.