A person walks near a banner for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, ahead of the games, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
Hangzhou, China—China’s Xi Jinping will attend the Asian Games opening ceremony in host city Hangzhou and meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad along with other visiting leaders there, state media said Thursday, September 21, 2023.
President Xi “will attend the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou from September 22 to 23, and hold a welcome banquet and bilateral activities for foreign leaders visiting China”, state broadcaster CCTV said.
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Foreign guests in attendance will include Assad — on his first visit to China since war erupted in Syria in 2011 — as well as leaders from ally Cambodia, Kuwait, and Nepal, among others, CCTV said.
The Games were supposed to take place last September but were postponed because of China’s strict zero-Covid regime, before the ruling Communist Party abruptly abandoned the policy.
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The 19th edition of the Games, which were first held in New Delhi in 1951, brings together athletes from 45 countries and territories across Asia and the Middle East.