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SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping stayed away from a dinner attended by 11 heads of state at a regional security summit in line with his delegation’s policy on COVID-19, an Uzbek government source told Reuters on Friday. .
Xi, who is making his first trip abroad since the start of the pandemic, is attending a meeting of the China-Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Uzbek city of Samarkand this week.
However, he was absent from group photographs released on Thursday afternoon when the leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, went to dinner.
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An Uzbek government source confirmed Xi’s absence and said the Chinese delegation cited its COVID-19 policy as the reason.
In Beijing, China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Xi, 69, will secure a historic third leadership term at a Communist Party congress starting next month.
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Reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; Additional reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; Written by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
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