I'm not sure anyone really expected Russia to show up. Leaving the borders of Russia is not the best thing that Putin could do for his own safety or security. The fact that China (Xi) did not attend is more interesting. I haven't seen an official statement as to why he did not attend, but I have read that the reasons could include anything from "solidarity with Putin" (which seems unlikely) to "escalating tensions along the Himalayan border between China and India" (was not on my radar screen) to "a fractious tone at the recent Beidaihe meeting" (which has come up in some of our recent geopolitical discussions). There is a Nikkei article alleging that Xi was reprimanded by party elders at this year's Beidaihe meeting. Is it possible that questions about the domestic economy kept him from the G20? I don't know, but earlier this year China abruptly changed their zero-Covid strategy after a series of protests were reported.

I don't know why Xi did not attend the G20, but it doesn't strike me as a good sign for global relations.

The G18 (or G20) issued a statement about the war in Ukraine (which was apparently not critical enough of Russia) citing risks to the global economy (see The Economist Who Cried Recession) and included some climate initiatives (which I am not overly optimistic about given the fact that China didn't attend).

Made By China

I continue to argue that one way for China to extricate itself from its current economic weakness is to sell more of their own brands (see China's Next Move).

The following helps support that view:

The yuan is on the cusp of record weakness.