Unlike Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping will participate in the BRICS summit in South Africa

At the invitation of the President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping will participate in the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg from August 21 to 24, 2023.

While Vladimir Putin has given up attending the BRICS summit in South Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to South Africa next week where he will make a state visit and participate in the BRICS summit. “At the invitation of the President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, President Xi Jinping will participate in the 15th BRICS summit which is to take place in Johannesburg (…) and will make a state visit to South Africa from 21 to August 24 »Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the ministry, said in a statement published online.

The summit is expected to be held in Johannesburg where South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will host Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from August 22-24. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is the subject of an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will not visit South Africa.

BRICS currently brings together five countries – namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – and the group’s expansion is expected to have a high priority on the meeting’s agenda. The Chinese diplomat said Xi Jinping would also co-chair the Sino-African leaders’ dialogue with Ramaphosa in the South African capital. For the Chinese president, this is his second trip outside China this year, after paying a state visit to Russia last March.