High expectations placed on Xi's overseas visits

President Xi Jinping's first international trip since being elected as China's top leader is drawing widespread attention around the world. There are high expectations of the marks he will make on the country's foreign policy, according to an article in Beijing News.

Here are excerpts:

Xi has started a three-day state visit to Russia, and then will visit Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo. After these visits, he will attend the fifth BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa.

The type of diplomatic style and strategic stance the new generation of China's central leadership will show to the world will indicate the country's diplomatic orientation and wield influence on international political and economic issues.

China's diplomatic value has never been a puzzle — insisting on peaceful development while adhering to bottom-line principles.

Peaceful development needs to foster democratization and multipolarization of international relations.

A strategic coordination partnership has been maintained for 12 years between China and Russia. This significant relationship is underlined by Xi's choice of Russia for his first state visit. The visit will also add a balancing force to international relations, especially relations between major powers.

However, trade between China and Russia, accounting for less than 0.5 percent of world total, does not match their strategic partnership. This issue needs to be addressed by both countries.

Insisting on peaceful development also means valuing and maintaining traditional international partnerships.

Xi's visits to Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo not only highlight that China attaches great importance to relations with these African countries, but also showcases the strengthening of a new type of cooperation between China and Africa that is totally different to the latter's relations with Western countries in the past.