BEIJING (AP) 鈥 It would have been natural for Chinese leader Xi Jinping to address the U.N. General Assembly in the 80th anniversary year of the founding of the United Nations. But he won’t.
Instead, is speaking at this week’s annual meeting in the latest example of Xi cutting back on overseas trips and delegating tasks to loyal lieutenants. His leadership style appears to be evolving into a more hands-off though no less powerful one, thrusting Li into a more prominent role.
The decision not to go is somewhat surprising. China the important role of the U.N. as an alternative to what it considers U.S. bullying in international affairs. Xi spoke in 2015 in the U.N.‘s 70th anniversary year, and in the 75th because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The delicate state of U.S.-China relations may have played a role. Both sides want Xi to meet U.S. President Donald Trump but this week could have been too early, with little to show as the two governments remain locked in trade negotiations.
Trump they would meet at the summit in South Korea at the end of October, though China hasn’t confirmed that.
For Xi, it’s been there, done that
Xi, who has been China's leader for 13 years, was an unstoppable world traveler in his first seven. He in a horse-drawn carriage in 2015 and met President Donald Trump at the U.S. leader's Mar-a-Lago resort in 2017.
Then COVID-19 struck. Post-pandemic, he has become much more of a homebody. He skipped the Group of 20 leaders meeting in India in 2023 and in Brazil this year 鈥 notable because China sees the grouping as a counterweight to American global dominance. Li represented China instead.
In part, times have changed.
Early in his term, Xi was bent on raising China’s international stature and role, not only traveling far and wide but also launching the and the .
Having succeeded, he has become much more selective about his trips. Meanwhile, China’s growing influence means foreign leaders still flock to Beijing to meet Xi. European Union leaders , even though it was Europe’s turn to host the summit with China.
鈥淢y guess is that ... Xi feels that the rest of the world should come to Beijing, a la the emissaries of the world coming to affirm their fealty to the emperor,” said June Teufel Dreyer, a China politics expert at the University of Miami.
Li Qiang steps out at the UN General Assembly
Expectations were low when Li was named the country’s premier, the No. 2 leadership position, in 2023.
He had been the top official in Shanghai during a two-month that paralyzed the city and . Instead of being punished, he was promoted to top leadership, showing how loyalty takes precedence in the Xi era, said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore.
As Xi steps back, Li could emerge as an important interlocutor for governments and companies that want to engage with China, said Neil Thomas, a Chinese politics fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
Li has held talks at the U.N. this week with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker and is delivering his government’s positions on development and climate.
In a significant shift, that China would no longer seek the advantages given to developing countries in global trade talks.
Thomas described Li as 鈥渁n incredibly important person鈥 to engage with during the U.N. meeting. 鈥淗e鈥檚 acting on Xi鈥檚 behalf,鈥 he said, 鈥渁nd will be able to relay messages between Xi and the world.鈥
Xi delegates work but not power
Thomas believes that age may be a factor, as the 72-year-old Xi 鈥 who shows no sign of stepping down 鈥 seeks to preserve his health.
鈥淢y view is that Xi Jinping鈥檚 decision to travel less is a strategic one designed to conserve his energy as he ages and ultimately strengthens his hold on power because he鈥檚 in Beijing more and is in better health,鈥 Thomas said.
He sees the reduced travel as part of a broader shift in which Xi rules in what Thomas has called a 鈥渕ore oracular leadership style.鈥 Increasingly, he is delegating the carrying out of policy decisions to underlings.
That is possible because he stacked the Communist Party leadership with loyalists such as Li in , eliminating what opposition remained. Ultimate power, by all appearances, remains in his hands.
鈥淗e鈥檚 delegating,鈥 Wu said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a decentralization or structural change. He鈥檚 just asking people to do things on his behalf.鈥
