Xi Jinping has hosted more than a dozen leaders this year, as ‘middle powers’ look beyond the US

Chinese leader Xi Jinping visits villagers near Dezhou city on Wednesday. Xi has hosted at least 17 world leaders so far this year. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Chinese leader Xi Jinping visits villagers near Dezhou city on Wednesday. Xi has hosted at least 17 world leaders so far this year. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock Analysis Xi Jinping has hosted more than a dozen leaders this year, as ‘middle powers’ look beyond the US Amy Hawkins in Beijing and Alastair McCready in Taipei China’s leader wants to promote his alternative to the current world order, and his efforts are being assisted by a capricious US Xi Jinping meets Bangladesh’s new prime minister on Friday, the latest in a wave of world leaders to visit Beijing this year as the Chinese leader builds his influence and economic ties, and seeks to “shift the balance of power” away from the west. Xi’s meeting with Tarique Rahman comes less than two weeks after the Chinese leader welcomed Myanmar’s military chief-turned-president, Min Aung Hlaing, in Beijing. In May, Xi hosted leaders from the US, Russia, Brunei, Serbia, Tajikistan and Pakistan, while a host of foreign ministers also came to China for lower level meetings. More than a dozen world leaders - including presidents and prime ministers - have visited so far this year, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, the UK’s Keir Starmer and US president Donald Trump. “The long list of world leaders travelling to Beijing to meet with Xi reflects the growing recognition of China’s increasing global influence,” said William Yang, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group. View image in fullscreen Xi Jinping hosted Canadian prime minister Mark Carney in January. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock Many of the leaders to visit China this year, including Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney , framed their trips as a chance for “middle-power” countries to chart an independent relationship with Beijing against a backdrop of an increasingly capricious US. China can use such visits to “promote the alternative multipolar world order that it has been championing while weakening these countries’ trust and confidence in the US,” Yang said. China is presenting itself as a source of stability – and for many poorer countries, loans – at a time when from the perspective of many countries, the US is retreating from its leading position on the world stage. And despite Trump’s pomp-filled state visit , Beijing has not been shy about about courting leaders from authoritarian and Global South countries, either. Myanmar’s military chief-turned-president got the red carpet treatment in Beijing. The Chinese leader signalled his “firm support” for Min Aung Hlaing’s regime, before reiterating his commitment to the “principle of non-interference” in the war-torn country’s “internal affairs”. Min Aung Hlaing, accused by UN experts of overseeing war crimes and genocide in Myanmar, appeared a happy man. Only his second foreign trip since ceme