Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to miss the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro on July 6–7, 2025, marking his first absence from the annual gathering since taking office in 2013. Officially, Beijing has cited a scheduling conflict as the reason for Xi’s non-attendance, with Premier Li Qiang, a close confidant of Xi, expected to lead the Chinese delegation instead—mirroring his role at the G20 Summit in India in 2023.

However, diplomatic sources and multiple media reports suggest that the real reasons are more complex and rooted in evolving intra-BRICS dynamics. Brazilian officials reportedly view Xi’s absence as a diplomatic slight, especially after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s state visit to Beijing in May 2024, which was intended as a goodwill gesture with the expectation that Xi would reciprocate by attending the Rio summit in person.

Frustration is evident in Brasília, with Lula’s special adviser for international affairs, Celso Amorim, directly raising the issue with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as early as February 2025.

A key factor fueling speculation is the invitation extended by President Lula to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a state dinner following the summit. Some Chinese and Brazilian diplomats believe that the optics of such an event—where Modi and Lula would share the spotlight—could make Xi appear as a “supporting actor,” an unpalatable scenario for a leader accustomed to center stage at global forums.

This perception is heightened by the fact that Modi’s stature within BRICS and on the global stage has been rising, while China and India continue to navigate a tense bilateral relationship following the 2020 Himalayan border clashes.

Chinese officials have also pointed out that Xi and Lula have already met twice in less than a year—once during a state visit to Brasília in November 2023 and again at the China-CELAC forum in Beijing in May 2024—arguing that another in-person meeting was not necessary at this time.

Nonetheless, the Brazilian side appears unconvinced, interpreting Xi’s absence as a sign of diplomatic discomfort and possibly as a response to Brazil’s decision not to endorse China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a key foreign policy project for Xi.

Despite these tensions, China has publicly reaffirmed its support for Brazil’s BRICS presidency and emphasized its commitment to deepening cooperation among member states. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated that information about China’s participation would be shared at the “appropriate time” and reiterated China’s desire to promote deeper cooperation within BRICS.

The BRICS bloc itself has grown more complex, recently expanding to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, with 15 other countries invited as partners.

This expansion has introduced new challenges in maintaining unity among the original core members, particularly as India’s global profile rises and China recalibrates its strategic priorities. Xi’s expected absence is seen by some observers as an early signal that cohesion within the group may be fraying, with Brazil caught in the middle of India-China rivalry.

Xi Jinping’s decision to skip the BRICS Summit in Rio—officially attributed to scheduling issues but widely interpreted as a response to shifting diplomatic optics and strategic calculations—reflects the evolving power dynamics within BRICS, growing Indian influence, and the challenges of managing a larger, more diverse bloc.

Based On ET News Report