China’s Xi skips dinner with Putin, allies to prevent coronavirus – sources

Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in line with his delegation’s COVID-19 policy, did not attend a meeting of 11 heads of state, a source in Uzbekistan’s government told Reuters on Friday. Attended the Regional Security Summit Dinner. .

Xi Jinping, who is traveling abroad for the first time since the start of the pandemic, will this week attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization led by China and Russia in the Uzbekistan city of Samarkand.

However, he did not appear in a group photo released late Thursday when leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan went to dinner.

Uzbek government sources confirmed Xi’s absence and said the Chinese delegation cited its COVID-19 policy as the reason.

In Beijing, China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Xi Jinping, 69, will receive a historic third leadership term at the Communist Party congress that begins next month.

Reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; Additional reporting by Tian Yaolun in Beijing; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

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