Xi receives interview ahead of first visit abroad

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday received a joint interview by Xinhua and media outlets from the other four BRICS countries ahead of his first state visit abroad.

Besides his trip to Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo, Xi is also scheduled to attend the fifth leaders' meeting of BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

During the interview, Xi answered questions from Xinhua as well as ITAR-TASS news agency of Russia, ESAT TV of South Africa, the Press Trust of India and the Valor Economico newspaper of Brazil.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Monday that Xi will visit Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo on March 22-30 and attend the fifth BRICS summit on March 26-27 in Durban, South Africa.

Following his election as general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in November, Xi was elected president of China during the 1st session of the 12th National People's Congress last week.