From late October through mid-November, China’s President Xi Jinping held high-profile engagements in three very different major international forums: the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia; the APEC Leadership Forum in Lima, Peru; and the G-20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Beyond the dominant role of Xi and China in each summit, the three distinct performances by Xi also provide important insight into how Beijing is positioning itself on the international stage in pursuit of its own benefit and strategic advantage. These engagements also suggest what to expect as China under Xi responds to the challenges and opportunities presented by the incoming U.S. administration of Donald Trump.
China’s global engagement, manifested in its activities at the three forums, is not a bid for “leadership” in the sense traditionally understood in the West. Rather, China is pursuing its national self-interest in its engagement with a range of different global actors, while seeking to influence and reshape the international system to its advantage.
Keywords: Diplomacy, East Asia, China, APEC 2024 summit, BRICS summit 2024, China diplomacy, China global leadership, Xi Jinping G-20 summit, Xi Jinping in Brazil, Xi Jinping in Peru
Background photo of President Xi if China upon his arrival in Kazan, Russia, by Press Service of the Head of Tatarstan, October 2024, from Wikimedia (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/President_of_China_Xi_Jinping_upon_arrival_at_Kazan_%282024%29_2.jpg)