A billboard advertising the G20 Summit can be seen in the city center of Johannesburg on November 20, 2025, as South Africa prepares to host the 2025 G20 meeting, the premier forum for international economic cooperation. Photo: VCG

Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday local time to attend the 20th Group of 20 (G20) Summit, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday. The summit, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, is the first ever to be held on the African continent. 

The summit is a landmark event, marking a pivotal shift in global governance amid the rise of the Global South, and highlights China's growing cooperation with Global South countries on their path to modernization, a Chinese expert said. 

Under the theme "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability," the G20 Summit in Johannesburg underscores the moment for Africa as it seeks to amplify its voice in global governance and advance development priorities shared by the Global South, Xinhua reported on Friday.  

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa viewed this year's summit as an opportunity to place the needs of Africa and the rest of the Global South more firmly on the international development agenda, he said, according to Xinhua. 

Asked about China's expectation for the summit, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said previously that amid rapid changes in the world not seen in a century, sluggish global economic growth and widening development deficit in the world, the G20, as the premier forum for international economic cooperation, needs to enhance solidarity and cooperation, jointly respond to challenges, improve global economic governance and contribute to world economic growth and the development and prosperity of countries.

Noting the historic significance of the G20 summit being held on the African continent for the first time, Lin said that China supports South Africa's G20 presidency and stands ready to work with various parties under the theme "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability" to build up consensus at the summit for upholding multilateralism, building an open world economy and promoting the cooperation on development.

Song Wei, a professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Friday that she views the summit as a truly landmark event, marking a pivotal shift in global governance. 

"It vividly demonstrates the rise of the Global South, signaling that global governance is beginning to genuinely listen to and incorporate the voices of emerging-market economies, with their representation and discourse power on the international stage significantly enhanced," Song said.

The G20 is a premier forum for international economic cooperation. Following the African Union's admission in 2023, G20 membership increased to 21 entities. Together, G20 members represent approximately two-thirds of the world's population, around 60 percent of global land area, 85 percent of global GDP and 80 percent of global trade, playing a pivotal role in global affairs, per Xinhua.

In terms of the agenda of the Johannesburg summit, far greater focus will likely be placed on the development aspirations of the Global South, particularly Africa's development needs, Song said, while highlighting China's growing cooperation with Africa and the broader Global South. 

Highlighting close China-Africa ties, before arriving in Johannesburg, Li visited Zambia from Wednesday to Thursday. Faced with a world of intertwined changes and chaos, China is willing to enhance multilateral communication and coordination with Zambia, stand united with the broad ranks of Global South countries, safeguard the international order as well as fairness and justice, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, Li said, according to Xinhua.   

Regarding China's cooperation with Africa and the broader Global South, Song pointed to two areas of focus - infrastructure development, which remains the most pressing bottleneck for Africa and many Global South countries on their path to modernization; as well as sustainable development and green transformation. 

Meanwhile, whether the US will participate in the G20 Summit has drawn widespread media attention, as US President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that no US government official would attend the meeting, according to AP. 

Hitting back at Washington's threat of boycott, Ramaphosa said the US' "absence is their loss" and that the boycott would not prevent the meeting from going ahead, according to AFP. 

However, as the event draws near, the US government has indicated that it has had a "change of mind" and wants to participate in the summit in South Africa, reversing its earlier boycott, the South African president said Thursday, AP reported.

According to the report, Ramaphosa said the host country had received communication from the US at "the 11th hour" and was now working on logistics to accommodate the US, but gave no indication who might represent the US government.

Ramaphosa said South Africa would issue a leaders' joint declaration during the G20 summit, despite Washington demanding that it should not, per the report.