China in September 2026: the most important developments in politics
In China in September 2026, politics was dominated by Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States. Xi arrived on September 23 and was greeted by President Donald Trump at the airport, met him at the White House on September 24, and attended a state dinner where Trump gave him a bald eagle sculpture. Xi said the two countries should be partners rather than rivals, called on the US to oppose Taiwan independence and warned against a win-or-lose rivalry. The two sides extended their trade truce by two months. Chinese state media said the leaders reached consensus on eight outcomes and agreed to meet twice more; Trump accepted an invitation to the APEC summit in China. Trump said he asked Xi to stop helping Iran. US Ambassador David Perdue said Washington's Taiwan policy was unchanged and that Trump asked Xi whether China wanted to buy American weapons; Trump denied this. China then sent two giant pandas to Atlanta. Several outlets described the summit as long on ceremony and short on substance.
Earlier in the month Xi attended the SCO Plus meeting in Bishkek on September 1, then met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and called for a new Middle East security framework. On September 12 and 13 he visited New Delhi for the BRICS summit, his first trip to India since 2019, held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and agreed to resume direct flights between Guangzhou and New Delhi.
Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution on September 18 that would have extended monitoring of Iran sanctions, and China urged Iran to rein in the Houthis. China and the Philippines exchanged sharp words and clashed over the South China Sea. China expelled two senior generals from the Communist Party on September 21 for disloyalty and corruption, and the Politburo set a Central Committee plenum for October 26 to 29. In Hong Kong, Joshua Wong pleaded guilty to collusion with foreign entities, and three organizers of the Tiananmen vigil were sentenced to between five and seven years. On September 29 Wang Yi held talks with former Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and said relations need to be normalized.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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