German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier will not go to February's Beijing Winter Games.
The United States and Australia have both announced diplomatic boycotts of the Olympics in protest at China's human rights record. But athletes will still attend.
Germany has stopped short of calling Steinmeier's non-attendance a diplomatic boycott, as some politicians in Germany have urged.
"There are no plans by the German president to travel to Beijing," a spokeswoman for the president told broadcaster ARD. "However, there were also no such plans even before the US announced its decision."
The president is the largely ceremonial German head of state above the chancellor.
