China denies inviting European leaders to meet Xi in November

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China has denied sending invitations to European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to meet President Xi Jinping in Beijing in November, disputing a report by the South China Morning Post.

The report cites a source close to the situation who said invitations had also been sent to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

At a regular press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called the report « fake news ».

“I don’t know where they got the information. What I can tell you is that this is fake news,” he said.

(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru and Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Alison Williams)