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China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at the routing press briefing (January 28) that Chinese President Xi Jinping would host welcome banquets from February 4 to 6 for dignitaries attending the Games opening, which will include more than 30 heads of state, government, royal families and international organisations. She said Xi would also attend a range of bilateral events during the period. CCTV said that among the guests will be: Russian President Vladimir Putin, European representatives from Poland, Serbia, Luxembourg and Monaco and dignitaries from Singapore, the five Central Asian nations and Pakistan, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, UN General Assembly president Abdulla Shahid and World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (Comment: Xi Jinping has not met foreign dignitaries in person for over nearly 400 days and these will be his first.)