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

The Guardian reports that Xi Jinping has hosted at least 17 world leaders in 2026, including Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing, as part of a deliberate strategy to build influence among 'middle powers' and promote an alternative multipolar world order. The article is bylined by two established correspondents (Amy Hawkins in Beijing, Alastair McCready in Taipei) and includes substantive sourcing from named analysts—William Yang (International Crisis Group), Ja Ian Chong (National University of Singapore), and Steve Tsang (SOAS University of London)—who contextualize Beijing's diplomatic pivot as a challenge to Western-led international order. The reporting is notably balanced, acknowledging both China's expanded diplomatic reach and the limitations of its actual influence on crisis resolution (Iran, Ukraine), and providing specific examples (Myanmar's Min Aung Hlaing's visit, Xi's North Korea trip) that illustrate the pattern. Independent search results do not directly corroborate or contradict the diplomatic visit claims, though they confirm Xi's broader governance agenda; watch for how this diplomatic campaign translates into concrete geopolitical outcomes, particularly regarding Taiwan, the Ukraine conflict, and whether middle-power defection from Western coalitions accelerates.