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SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping pulled out of a dinner for 11 leaders of the regional security summit in line with his delegation’s Covid-19 policy, an Uzbek government source told Reuters on Friday. .
Xi, who is making his first foreign trip since the pandemic began, will attend a meeting of the China-Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Uzbek city of Samarkand this week.
However, he was not in group photos released late Thursday when leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan went to dinner.
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An Uzbek government source confirmed Xi’s absence and the Chinese delegation blamed its COVID-19 policy.
In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Xi, 69, is set to take a historic third term at the Communist Party Congress starting next month.
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Muhammedsharif Mamdkulov’s report; Additional reporting by Yu Lun Tian in Beijing; Written by Olsas Aizov; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
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