Will Chinese President Xi Jinping attend presidential inauguration at Trump’s invitation?

China appears unlikely to accept US president-elect Donald Trump’s invitation for the Chinese president Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month given diplomatic protocol and historical precedents.

There is no record of any Chinese heads of state joining a US presidential transition ceremony. Since becoming China’s paramount leader, Xi has never attended such events personally in foreign countries, instead sending a special representative or envoy.

Meanwhile, it would generally take rounds of preparation for a Chinese president to visit the United States, a process that could span several months.

In early November, shortly after winning the US election, Trump invited Xi to attend the ceremony scheduled for January 20, CBS News reported on Wednesday, citing multiple sources.

However, Washington records dating back to 1874 show that no foreign heads of state have been involved in a US presidential inauguration, although it is common for foreign dignitaries and diplomats to attend, a practice Beijing has also adopted.

For instance, then-Chinese ambassador to the US Zhou Wenzhong attended Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009 as the Chinese government’s representative.

But in 2021, Beijing only stated that the Chinese embassy had received an invitation to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration and “extended congratulations” to him without confirming whether it had sent any officials.

“I noticed that the US government has reiterated many times that it only invites diplomatic envoys posted in the country to attend the presidential inauguration ceremony, and does not invite or encourage other countries or regions to send delegations to the ceremony,” said Hua Chunying, then a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry and now vice-foreign minister, in 2017 when asked about Trump’s first presidential inauguration.