Xi Jinping refused to travel to Brussels

Chinese President Xi Jinping refused to travel to Brussels for the summit in honor of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the EU. This statement was made by the Financial Times (FT) newspaper.

According to two sources of the publication, instead of the Chinese leader, Beijing will be represented at the summit by Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang.

The newspaper notes that the venues of such meetings, as a rule, alternate, while in Brussels is usually attended by the Prime Minister, and the chairman holds the relevant summits in Beijing. However, as the FT interlocutors noted, in the jubilee year the European Union expected Xi Jinping's personal presence, TASS reports.