Chinese President Xi Jinping has hosted more than a dozen world leaders so far in 2025, including Russia's Vladimir Putin, UK's Keir Starmer, and US President Donald Trump, as Beijing aggressively promotes an alternative to the current US-led world order. The flurry of diplomatic activity reflects China's growing global influence and its strategy to shift the balance of power toward the Global South.
Xi's Busy Diplomatic Calendar
Xi's meeting with Bangladesh's new prime minister on Friday is the latest in a series of high-profile visits. Less than two weeks earlier, he welcomed Myanmar's military chief-turned-president, Min Aung Hlaing, in Beijing. In May alone, Xi hosted leaders from the US, Russia, Brunei, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Pakistan, alongside numerous foreign ministers for lower-level meetings.
According to William Yang, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, “The long list of world leaders travelling to Beijing to meet with Xi reflects the growing recognition of China's increasing global influence.” Many of these leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, framed their trips as an opportunity for “middle-power” countries to forge independent relationships with Beijing amid a volatile US foreign policy.
Courting Authoritarian and Global South Leaders
Beijing has not shied away from rolling out the red carpet for controversial figures. Min Aung Hlaing, accused by UN experts of overseeing war crimes and genocide in Myanmar, received a warm welcome. Xi signalled “firm support” for his regime and reiterated China's commitment to non-interference in Myanmar's internal affairs. Ja Ian Chong, a professor at the National University of Singapore, noted that the visit signalled Beijing's “acceptance of the legitimacy of the Myanmar military's rule.”
Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London, explained that this approach is part of Xi's broader project to ensure “no country has a right to tell others how to manage their own domestic affairs.” He added, “Engagement with less glamorous leaders from less rich countries is very much what the strategy is about. Xi is fundamentally shifting the balance of power from the hands of the advanced democracies to the Global South, with China as its leader.”
Limited Influence on Global Crises
Despite the diplomatic blitz, China's influence in resolving international crises remains limited. While Beijing helped broker a detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2023, it does not wield decisive influence over Tehran. On the war in Ukraine, China's 12-point peace plan published in 2023 has been overshadowed by its enduring support for Russia's invasion. Chinese state media, however, has been keen to present Beijing as the new hub of global diplomacy, with the Global Times running a piece in May stating that the back-to-back visits of Trump and Putin “underscores both the intensity of China's diplomatic calendar and its expanding influence on the world stage.”
