(MENAFN) China confirmed on Wednesday that President Xi Jinping will not be attending this month’s BRICS summit, marking the first time he will miss the annual gathering of major emerging economies.

Instead, Premier Li Qiang will represent China at the 17th BRICS summit, set to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 5 to 8. The main sessions of the summit will occur on July 6 and 7, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, who shared the update during a live-streamed briefing in Beijing.

In recent months, President Xi has met with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on two occasions—once at the G20 summit in Brasilia last November and again this past May during the China-CELAC Forum in Beijing.

The BRICS group, originally composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has now expanded to include 11 members. New additions to the bloc include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Vietnam has recently joined the ranks as the 10th "partner country" of BRICS, alongside Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. The partner country designation was formally introduced during the 16th BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024, as part of the group’s broader strategy for expansion.

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