In June, Ukrainian Ambassador Pavlo Riabikin presented copies of his credentials to the head of the protocol department of the Chinese foreign ministry, Hong Lei.
New Afghan Ambassador Bilal Karimi was also among the foreign envoys received by the Chinese leader in the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday evening.
The previous Ukrainian ambassador to China, Serhii Kamyshev, died at the age of 65 in February 2021. Since then, no new ambassador has been appointed. In late April 2023, Xi had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after which the latter announced the appointment of a new ambassador.
In December, media reported that Afghanistan's new ambassador from the Taliban* movement had begun working in China. When Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was asked if this meant that Beijing now recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, he said that "China has always believed that Afghanistan should not be excluded from the international community."
*Organization is under UN sanctions over terrorist activities