After two years of seclusion, China’s Xi hosted a global leader dinner.

BEIJING (AFP) – On Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted a banquet for heads of state and foreign organisations attending the Winter Olympics, as part of a diplomatic blitz after nearly two years without face-to-face contacts due to the epidemic.

Along with the lunch, dozens of guests, many from autocratic states favourable to Beijing, were treated to musical performances and a traditional handicrafts show inside the Great Hall of the People, according to official media.

In the run-up to the Games, Xi has embarked on a diplomatic marathon, meeting with Russian President and “old friend” Vladimir Putin on Friday and attending the Olympics opening ceremony later that day with hundreds of international dignitaries.

The meetings this week are a significant departure for Xi, who has avoided travelling overseas or seeing foreign guests in person since the Covid-19 outbreak began in 2020.

For the previous two years, China has largely closed its borders in a zero-Covid approach, which has resulted in a decrease in daily infections.

Despite many nations, including the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada, launching diplomatic boycotts over China’s human rights record, Beijing is eager to build up international support and pull off a Games that would burnish its reputation.

According to Chinese official media, the dinner guest list featured Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as a number of dignitaries from Europe and Asia Pacific.

International organisations’ heads, including World Health Organization’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who state media reported was among the Olympic torchbearers, were also invited.

On the margins of the banquet on Saturday, the Chinese president met with leaders individually, confirming his support for Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, according to official broadcaster CCTV.

Beijing hailed Tokayev’s “strong actions” against demonstrators earlier this year, after the Kazakh leader adopted a tough stance to quash protests, including authorising his soldiers to shoot to kill.

Official images revealed a big dining table with a small winter scene as its centrepiece and glittering lights lighting it from above.

Masked visitors, including International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, were seen inspecting traditional clay sculptures and painted kites in the Great Hall of the People as a Chinese musical ensemble performed.

Xi was spotted meeting and posing for photos with Putin on Friday, both men wearing no masks, despite the fact that the Russian leader had bypassed the lengthy quarantine period that is generally necessary in China for persons visiting from abroad.