China’s President Xi Jinping issued a warning against warning against “unilateralism, trade protectionism and [the] backlash against globalisation”.at a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other authoritarian leaders that contrasted with the G7’s chaotic meeting in Canada.

After G7 leaders clashed at Charlevoix, the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a 17-year-old collective security group chaired by China for the past year, proceeded smoothly on Sunday.

Chinese media portrayed the SCO summit as emphasising the gap in global leadership that has opened between the US under President Donald Trump and China under Mr Xi, who used every opportunity to skewer Washington over mounting trade tensions and erratic unilateral behaviour.