Why Did Chinese President Xi Jinping Skip the UN General Assembly Despite Visiting the US?

The flight from Washington D.C. to New York takes about one and a half hours. Yet, when Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the United States on September 23, he did not attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly taking place in New York. Representing China at the General Assembly from September 24 to 26 is Vice President Han Zheng. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, Vice President Han will participate in a high-level dialogue commemorating the fifth anniversary of China’s Global Development Initiative and will meet with the UN Secretary-General, the President of the 81st General Assembly, and various world leaders.
However, Xi’s absence from the General Assembly has been analyzed in the context of China’s emphasis on the importance of the United Nations. A global governance white paper published by China in June 2026 described the UN as the center of the international order. Since taking China’s top leadership role at the end of 2012, Xi has personally attended the UN General Assembly only once, in 2015, when he traveled to New York for the UN’s 70th anniversary and addressed the assembly.
During that visit, he also held summit talks with then-U.S. President Barack Obama. As a result, Xi’s decision not to attend the General Assembly during his 2026 visit to the U.S. has attracted significant media interest. In 2021, Xi addressed the assembly via a video message and has not personally spoken at the General Assembly since.
The online magazine The Diplomat linked Xi’s absence to China’s diplomatic priorities. According to The Diplomat, since Jiang Zemin’s leadership in 1995, China’s top leaders have regularly participated in every UN decennial anniversary event. Thus, Xi’s non-attendance at the UN’s 80th anniversary in 2025 was also notable. Japanese media outlet Nikkei Asia reported that Xi initially planned to attend the General Assembly but later revised his travel schedule.
Nikkei Asia cited a source affiliated with the Chinese government who stated that at the end of July, China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen attempted to arrange a meeting in New York. This meeting was considered preliminary preparation for Xi’s potential visit. However, by mid-August, the plan for Xi to stay in New York was canceled. According to Nikkei Asia, the decision to limit the visit to three days led to this change. The source further explained that China prioritized sending a message to the world that China and the U.S. are equals. Analysts suggest that by not attending the General Assembly, Xi may also avoid unexpected criticism from other world leaders.
During Xi’s 2015 visit to New York, protests against China outside the UN headquarters attracted attention. Scott Kennedy, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told Nikkei Asia that Xi may have decided to spend only as much time in the U.S. as former President Trump did during his visit to China in May. Kennedy also noted the challenges in arranging a detailed agenda and tangible outcomes for a meeting with Trump could have influenced this decision.
British news outlet The Independent linked Xi’s U.S. visit to China’s relatively strong diplomatic position amid the declining influence of the UN. Citing analysts, the report highlighted the economic and political impact of the conflict with Iran and the upcoming U.S. midterm elections putting pressure on Trump. Ali Vaez, senior advisor for U.S.-China affairs at Crisis Group International, told The Independent that the Trump administration underestimated the level and significance of China’s support to Iran. The New York Times related Xi’s absence from the General Assembly to the declining role of the United Nations. It noted that as major powers increasingly disregard or bypass the UN, the institution is becoming weaker, disorganized, and less effective. Jeffrey Prescott, former U.S. ambassador to the UN offices in Rome during President Joe Biden’s tenure, described Xi’s absence as an important symbolic message to the UN.
The United Nations was established in 1945. In recent years, disagreements among the Security Council’s permanent members have made it difficult to reach decisive solutions on various international crises. The U.S., China, and Russia are permanent Security Council members with veto powers. Analysts point out that disagreements among these powers have repeatedly hindered effective decisions on issues including Iran, Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, and South Sudan.