BEIJING: Chinese leader Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to South Africa next week, the foreign ministry said Friday, while confirming the president will attend the Brics summit in Johannesburg. Xi will pay a state visit to South Africa next week, the foreign ministry said Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, while confirming the president will attend the Brics summit in Johannesburg. This will be Xi's second international trip of 2023, after paying an official state visit to Russia in March. Xi previously visited South Africa in 2018 as he sought to enhance his country's diplomatic and economic ties with the continent. Brics, a loosely-defined group that sees itself as a counterweight to Western economic domination, derives its name from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
