Over recent months, foreign diplomats bearing invites for Premier Li Keqiang to visit their capitals have been politely rebuffed. China’s foreign ministry “told us he has to stay at home to focus on the economy”, said one Beijing-based diplomat.
Mr Li has not ventured overseas since visiting Malaysia five months ago, matching his longest streak without a foreign trip since assuming office three years ago. Shortly after the premier’s return from Kuala Lumpur, panic on China’s stock exchanges and currency markets increased pessimism about the trajectory of the world’s second-largest economy.
With Friday’s release of China’s first-quarter economic growth estimate, which came in at 6.7 per cent, Mr Li can argue that staying at home paid off. The quarterly figure, though the lowest since the depths of the global financial crisis, was in line with the government’s projection of 6.5 to 7 per cent growth for the full year and cemented a recent run of better than expected Chinese economic data.