Xi meets Olympics chief in rare face-to-face session with foreign dignitary since early 2020

BEIJING • Chinese President Xi Jinping met International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach in person in Beijing, possibly his first face-time with a foreign dignitary since the early days of the pandemic.

The last known meeting Mr Xi had with a foreign leader was in March 2020, when he and Pakistani President Arif Alvi discussed measures to fight the coronavirus in the Chinese capital, according to a report by Xinhua.

Besides avoiding face-to-face meetings, Mr Xi's lack of foreign travel - he has not left the country in slightly over two years - raises concern his absence from major events hinders global progress on everything from climate change to disputes with the United States.

The last time Mr Xi returned from a trip abroad was on Jan 18, 2020, after visiting neighbouring Myanmar. That came five days before his government locked down the city of Wuhan, a move that alerted the world to the severity of the coronavirus causing Covid-19.

In Tuesday's meeting, just a week before the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Mr Xi and Mr Bach talked about the Olympic Truce resolution adopted by United Nations member states, as well as Covid-19 measures and the closed-loop management system employed for the Winter Games, according to an IOC statement.

Mr Xi told Mr Bach that China would fulfil its promise to present a simple, safe and splendid Winter Olympics, and that China is fully confident it will protect the health and safety of its people and the participants in the Games, Chinese state TV reported.

In November, Mr Bach had invited Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai to dinner when he is in Beijing. There is widespread concern over her well-being after she alleged sexual assault by a former top Communist Party official. The IOC has not responded to a request for details about any dinner.

During their meeting, Mr Xi also told Mr Bach: "I don't care how many gold medals Chinese athletes win this time."

China has become a powerhouse in the Summer Olympics, even topping the medal table when Beijing hosted the Games in 2008, with a record 48 golds.

The Winter Games are a different story. China's best showing was in 2010 in Vancouver, winning five golds. Four years ago in Pyeongchang, China won just one gold in the men's 500m short track speed skating, placing it 16th in the medal tally.

Beijing reported 14 local Covid-19 cases yesterday, the highest daily count in the city's current outbreak. The number of domestic infections with confirmed symptoms in Beijing reported for Tuesday comprised more than half of the 24 such cases nationwide, data showed.

Since Jan 15, Beijing has detected 55 symptomatic local cases, including both the Omicron and Delta variants. The number is significantly lower than elsewhere in the world, but the city has put tens of thousands under targeted lockdowns and tested a few million residents to block transmission.

Beijing's moves are in line with a national guideline to curb virus flare-ups as soon as possible, and this takes on extra urgency ahead of the Winter Olympic Games and in preventing major outbreaks during the Chinese New Year travel season.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS