Key facts
- Xi Jinping has hosted more than a dozen world leaders in Beijing this year.
- Visits include leaders from Russia, the UK, and the US, as well as Myanmar's president.
- These diplomatic engagements are seen as China building influence and economic ties.
- The visits are framed by some leaders as an effort by 'middle-power' countries to establish independent relationships with China.
- China is positioning itself as a source of stability and financial support, particularly for developing nations.
- Beijing has signaled support for Myanmar's military regime and accepted North Korea's nuclear status implicitly.
Xi Jinping has hosted a significant number of world leaders in Beijing this year, signaling China's growing global influence and its efforts to foster economic ties and a multipolar world order. These visits, including meetings with Bangladesh's Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Myanmar's military chief-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing, underscore China's ambition to shift the balance of power away from the West.
Many visiting leaders, such as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, have framed their trips as opportunities for 'middle-power' countries to establish independent relationships with Beijing, especially given perceptions of an increasingly unpredictable United States. Analysts suggest China uses these engagements to promote its vision of a multipolar world and potentially weaken other countries' confidence in the US.
China is presenting itself as a stable force and a provider of loans, particularly appealing to developing nations. This approach extends to engaging with leaders from authoritarian states, as demonstrated by the red-carpet treatment for Min Aung Hlaing, who faces international accusations of war crimes. Beijing's "firm support" and "acceptance of the legitimacy of the Myanmar military's rule" indicate a pragmatic foreign policy prioritizing stability and non-interference.
Similarly, Xi's recent meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong-un saw the issue of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program conspicuously absent from official readouts, suggesting a prioritization of stabilizing ties over condemning its nuclear status. Chinese state media has actively promoted Beijing as a burgeoning global diplomatic hub, citing the frequency of high-level visits.
However, China's actual effectiveness in resolving international crises remains limited. While it played a role in brokering detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran, its influence over Tehran is not decisive. Furthermore, China's 12-point peace plan for Ukraine has largely been overshadowed by its continued support for Russia's invasion, indicating that its diplomatic initiatives do not always translate into concrete conflict resolution.