Xi Jinping hosts more than a dozen leaders as middle powers look beyond the US

Xi Jinping met Bangladesh’s new prime minister, Tarique Rahman, on Friday, the latest in a wave of world leaders to visit Beijing as he builds influence and economic ties and seeks to 'shift the balance of power' away from the west. His meeting with Myanmar’s military chief-turned-president, Min Aung Hlaing, came less than two weeks after another high-profile visit.

In May, Xi hosted leaders from the US, Russia, Brunei, Serbia, Tajikistan and Pakistan, and more than a dozen presidents and prime ministers have travelled to Beijing so far this year, among them Vladimir Putin, Keir Starmer, Donald Trump and Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney.

'The long list of world leaders travelling to Beijing to meet with Xi reflects the growing recognition of China’s increasing global influence,' said William Yang of the International Crisis Group. Many visitors, including several 'middle-power' countries, have framed trips as a chance to chart an independent relationship with Beijing amid an increasingly capricious US.

China, Beijing

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