China backs South Africa’s G20 role after US leaves Pretoria out of Atlanta meeting
China has publicly backed South Africa’s continued participation in the G20 after the United States left Pretoria out of its foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, in a fresh point of friction during Washington’s presidency of the grouping.
China has publicly backed South Africa’s continued participation in the G20 after the United States left Pretoria out of the grouping’s foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, setting up a fresh point of friction as Washington hosts the forum this year.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun gave Beijing’s position at a regular press conference in the Chinese capital on Friday, responding to a question from state broadcaster CCTV which noted that South Africa, a founding member of the G20, had “once again” not been invited to the Atlanta meeting.
“South Africa is an important member of the G20. China supports South Africa in continuing its participation in G20 activities,” Guo said, according to the ministry’s official transcript, which the spokesperson’s account then repeated on social media.
Guo added that the G20 plays an important role in strengthening multilateralism, promoting world economic growth and improving global governance, describing it as a major platform for international economic cooperation.
China was not alone in backing Pretoria. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had earlier also supported South Africa’s participation in the meeting, underlining that unease over the exclusion extends beyond Beijing.
The Atlanta meeting, hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 30 and 31 October, is part of the United States’ presidency of the G20 this year. The State Department has not publicly addressed South Africa’s absence in its announcement of the meeting, and South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation had not issued a statement specifically on the Atlanta meeting as of Friday afternoon US time.
The dispute dates back to last year. In an article published by the State Department on 4 December 2025, Rubio wrote that President Donald Trump and the United States would not extend an invitation to the South African government to participate in the G20 during the US presidency. In November 2025, Trump said South Africa would not be invited to the G20 summit scheduled for November 2026 in Miami, Florida.
South Africa rejected the position at the time. In a statement dated 26 November 2025, its Department of International Relations and Cooperation said President Cyril Ramaphosa had noted what it called the regrettable statement by Trump, and insisted that South Africa is a member of the G20 in its own name and right and would continue to participate as a full, active and constructive member.
More recently, South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, Roelf Meyer, said on Monday that the South African government was “no longer troubled” about not being invited to the Miami summit, while adding that South Africa would attend the B20 business summit in Washington next month.
What happens next is uncertain. The Atlanta ministers’ meeting continues into Saturday, and the Miami leaders’ summit remains weeks away, leaving room for further public statements from Washington, Beijing or Pretoria, for quiet diplomacy behind the scenes, or for the disagreement to simply persist unresolved into the summit itself. For now, China’s intervention has ensured that South Africa’s empty chair in Atlanta is itself part of the story of the meeting.
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