Xi’s Delhi trip puts a rare spotlight on China’s armored Hongqi limousine
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s travel plans for New Delhi have drawn attention for more than diplomacy. He is expected to arrive for the 18th BRICS
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s travel plans for New Delhi have drawn attention for more than diplomacy. He is expected to arrive for the 18th BRICS Summit in a heavily protected Hongqi N701, the state limousine reserved for China’s top leadership.
The car is built for security first. Thick armor, blast resistance and a V12 engine put it in the small class of executive vehicles designed to move a head of state through public streets with maximum protection. In a city hosting a summit of major emerging economies, the limousine itself has become part of the message.
A vehicle with political weight
Xi’s visit comes after an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the vehicle he is expected to use has attracted unusual attention. In China, the Hongqi name carries symbolic value, much as the Indian public has long associated official motorcades with state power and prestige. Different countries. Same signal.
The N701 is a bespoke limousine made exclusively for China’s top leadership. Its presence in Delhi underscores how closely major powers guard their heads of state when they travel abroad, especially for high-level summits.
Very closely.
China’s answer to the armored presidential car
Comparisons are already being drawn with the U.S. President’s armored vehicle, known as “The Beast.” That comparison is less about styling than about statecraft. Both vehicles project authority, but they also reveal how much planning goes into the movement of a leader whose safety is treated as a national priority.
Xi has been seen in very different settings before, including riding in an open-top black limousine while reviewing troops and new military hardware in Beijing. The contrast is stark. In Delhi, the optics will be all about protection, control and the choreography of a visit watched closely across Asia.
For now, the Hongqi N701 is set to do what it was built to do: keep the Chinese president moving under a heavy shield as BRICS leaders gather in New Delhi. What it says about China’s security approach will travel with the motorcade.
