On July 20, 2023, Xi Jinping received Henry Kissinger in Beijing. “You have visited China more than a hundred times,” he said.
After Kissinger’s death in November 2023, the Foreign Ministry called him “an old friend and good friend of the Chinese people, a pioneer and builder of China-US relations.” People’s Daily quoted the same formula. The Foreign Ministry added: “The Chinese people value feeling and loyalty. We will not forget old friends.”