January 28, 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and hold a welcome banquet for at least 32 foreign heads of state, heads of government, members of the royal family and heads of international organizations, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced on Friday. Such large scale of foreign leaders to the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics - an unprecedented offline gathering of top leaders since the pandemic - underscore China's capacity of unifying others amid challenging time, which also signals the widely shared support and expectations of the global community for the Games and completely defies the trivial voices of the US-led Western clique in calling for a "diplomatic boycott of the Games," experts said. 

It will also be China's first home diplomacy this year, as through bilateral activities, countries are expected to increase consensus and enhance relations with China by celebrating the Olympics and Chinese New Year - the most important Chinese traditional festival. 

The invited heads of state, heads of government and members of the royal family include six from Europe, five from Central Asia, three from the Middle East, two from South America, and others from Asia, the Pacific and Africa, according to the list released on the website of the ministry. 

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