China has now decided to send a high-level official to President-Elect Donald Trump's inauguration. 

This is according to a new report from Newsmax.

This all comes after Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to his inauguration.

It now appears that, although Xi himself will not be attending, one of his high-level officials will.

Background

It was back in early December 2024 that Trump invited Xi to his inauguration, looking to start off on the right foot - diplomatically speaking - with China.

The Hill reported:

President-elect Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month in Washington, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday. Karoline Leavitt, who will serve as White House press secretary, said on “Fox & Friends” that Trump extended the invitation to the Chinese leader and adversary and that it was “to be determined” whether Xi would attend.

Not long thereafter, outlets started reporting that Xi had turned Trump down.

CBS News, for example, reported:

Chinese President Xi Jinping is not expected to travel to Washington next month as an inauguration guest of President-elect Donald Trump, according to two sources familiar with the planning . . . The invitation to Xi, which was conveyed outside of formal diplomatic channels, took both Beijing and U.S. allies by surprise. Chinese officials who are accustomed to strict protocol and keenly aware of power dynamics in the US-China relationship were left wondering about Mr Trump's intent.

Trump, though, stated publicly that this reporting was wrong and that, as far as he knew, Xi had not turned him down.

The latest

Now, it is clear that Xi will not be attending the inauguration.

Newsmax reports, "Xi has reportedly informed the Trump transition team that a top Chinese official will attend the inauguration in Xi's stead . . ."

The question, of course, is whom exactly Xi is going to send to the inauguration. Speculation has already begun.

Newsmax continues, "[several sources have suggested that] it may be Chinese Vice President Han Zheng or Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The Times notes that some of Trump's advisers reportedly wanted Xi's right-hand man, Cai Qi, to attend and that Trump may be unhappy if Wang or Han is sent instead."

In other words, it remains to be seen which Chinese official will attend Trump's inauguration. It is also unclear what other world leaders and/or diplomats will be at the inauguration. It is expected to be a massive event, though, according to the latest schedule of events released by the Trump team.