China's Xi takes a step back, putting a lieutenant in the limelight at UN meeting

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BEIJING (AP) — It would have been natural for Chinese leader Xi Jinping to address the U.N. General Assembly in the 80th anniversary year of the founding of the United Nations. But he won't.

Instead, Premier Li Qiang is speaking at this week's annual meeting in the latest example of Xi cutting back on overseas trips and delegating tasks to loyal lieutenants. His leadership style appears to be evolving into a more hands-off though no less powerful one, thrusting Li into a more prominent role.

The decision not to go is somewhat surprising. China regularly cites the important role of the U.N. as an alternative to what it considers U.S. bullying in international affairs. Xi spoke in 2015 in the U.N.'s 70th anniversary year, and by video in 2020 in the 75th because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The delicate state of U.S.-China relations may have played a role. Both sides want Xi to meet U.S. President Donald Trump but this week could have been too early, with little to show as the two governments remain locked in trade negotiations.

Trump said last week they would meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea at the end of October, though China hasn't confirmed that.

Xi, who has been China's leader for 13 years, was an unstoppable world traveler in his first seven. He rode to Buckingham Palace in a horse-drawn carriage in 2015 and met President Donald Trump at the U.S. leader's Mar-a-Lago resort in 2017.

Then COVID-19 struck. Post-pandemic, he has become much more of a homebody. He skipped the Group of 20 leaders meeting in India in 2023 and the BRICS summit in Brazil this year — notable because China sees the grouping as a counterweight to American global dominance. Li represented China instead.

In part, times have changed.

Early in his term, Xi was bent on raising China's international stature and role, not only traveling far and wide but also launching the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Having succeeded, he has become much more selective about his trips. Meanwhile, China's growing influence means foreign leaders still flock to Beijing to meet Xi. European Union leaders came in July, even though it was Europe's turn to host the summit with China.

“My guess is that ... Xi feels that the rest of the world should come to Beijing, a la the emissaries of the world coming to affirm their fealty to the emperor," said June Teufel Dreyer, a China politics expert at the University of Miami.

Expectations were low when Li was named the country's premier, the No. 2 leadership position, in 2023.

He had been the top official in Shanghai during a two-month COVID-19 lockdown that paralyzed the city and sparked protests. Instead of being punished, he was promoted to top leadership, showing how loyalty takes precedence in the Xi era, said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore.

As Xi steps back, Li could emerge as an important interlocutor for governments and companies that want to engage with China, said Neil Thomas, a Chinese politics fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Li has held talks at the U.N. this week with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker.

Thomas described Li as “an incredibly important person” to engage with during the U.N. meeting. “He’s acting on Xi’s behalf,” he said, “and will be able to relay messages between Xi and the world.”

In a significant shift, Li announced Tuesday that China would no longer seek the advantages given to developing countries in global trade talks. But Xi reserved the high-profile climate issue for himself, announcing China’s goals for 2035 in a video message Wednesday afternoon.

Thomas believes that age may be a factor, as the 72-year-old Xi — who shows no sign of stepping down — seeks to preserve his health.

“My view is that Xi Jinping’s decision to travel less is a strategic one designed to conserve his energy as he ages and ultimately strengthens his hold on power because he’s in Beijing more and is in better health,” Thomas said.

He sees the reduced travel as part of a broader shift in which Xi rules in what Thomas has called a “more oracular leadership style.” Increasingly, he is delegating the carrying out of policy decisions to underlings.

That is possible because he stacked the Communist Party leadership with loyalists such as Li in the last reshuffle in 2022, eliminating what opposition remained. Ultimate power, by all appearances, remains in his hands.

“He’s delegating,” Wu said. “It’s not a decentralization or structural change. He’s just asking people to do things on his behalf.”