CRI's Li Jing takes a closer look.

 

　　The upcoming nine-day trip will take the President to countries such as Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo.

 

　　In South Africa, he'll also be attending the BRICS summit.

 

　　And the Director of the China Institute of International Studies, Qu Xing says the itinerary shows China's all-directional diplomacy.

 

　　"Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit fully demonstrates the four key elements in China's foreign policy, namely the relations with great powers, neighboring and developing countries, as well as multilateral diplomacy. Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a world power as well as China's biggest neighbor. Africa represents developing countries, and BRICS summit is a mechanism of multilateral diplomacy."

 

　　China and Russia are expected to strike deals boosting oil trade and building a natural gas pipeline during Xi Jinping's visit.

 

　　But Jiang Yi with the Institute of Russian Studies at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says trade volume isn't the only thing they need to focus on.

 

　　"The two countries have been promoting investment and technological cooperation through big projects in recent years to enhance energy cooperation. This is the direction for future development. It is more than the increase of trade volume."

 

　　In terms of relations with Africa, cooperation has been fast developing – covering not just traditional areas like agriculture and mining, but even modern industries including manufacturing, financing, real estate and tourism.

 

　　China's foreign direct investment in Africa approached 20 billion U.S. dollars by 2012, with 3 billion dollars added to the total last year.

 

　　African Studies researcher He Wenping with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says the relationship is only going to grow even more.

 

　　"The visit shows that China attaches great importance to Africa because Africa is where most developing countries are located. It also shows the continuity of China's African policy. The new leaders will continue pay high attention to Sino-African ties, and put China's relations with developing countries high on agenda. "

 

　　Meanwhile, leaders of BRICS countries are apparently considering establishing a development bank and foreign exchange reserve pool during the summit.

 

　　Qu Xing with the China Institute of International Studies says this move would further vitalize the young mechanism.

 

　　"The development bank among BRICS will provide support to the countries, while the foreign exchange reserve pool will push forward the reform of global financial system to a more balanced direction."

 

　　The BRICS groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which have roughly 40 percent of the world's population but so far account for just 20% of the world's gross domestic product.

 

　　For CRI, this is Li Jing.