Chinese President Xi Jinping to participate in G20 Summit virtually

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to participate in the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit in Rome, Italy during the weekend via video conference, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"At the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the G20 Rome summit via video link and deliver a speech," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Friday, as quoted by Global Times.

Xi will make a speech at the summit, the ministry said. The G20 summit will take place on October 30-31 in Rome in a face-to-face format but some prominent leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend through video conferencing.

Leaders of G20 nations are set to meet in Rome on Saturday at the 16th gathering at the level of Heads of State and Government, to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.

The summit's agenda will cover the pressing global health and economic issues related to the pandemic, including the need to boost efforts to ensure the fair and equitable global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Global leaders are also expected to discuss climate change, digital transformation and sustainable innovation, along with such issues as the situation in Afghanistan.

( With inputs from ANI )