Chinese president leaves for Middle East and African visits, BRICS summit

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing on Thursday for state visits to United Arab Emirates (UAE), Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa, and the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

Xi will also pay a friendly visit to Mauritius during a stopover on his way back to Beijing.

Xi is paying the state visits at the invitation of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He will attend the BRICS summit at the invitation of President Ramaphosa.

Xi's entourage includes his wife Peng Liyuan; Ding Xuexiang, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee; Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee; Wang Yi, State Councilor and Foreign Minister; and He Lifeng, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the National Development and Reform Commission.