Xi starts central, south Asian tours

BEIJING - President Xi Jinping left Beijing on Thursday morning for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit and visits to four countries in Central and South Asia.

Xi is scheduled to attend the 14th meeting of the Council of Heads of the SCO member states on Thursday and Friday in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

After the summit, Xi will pay state visits to Tajikistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and India at the invitation of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.

Xi's entourage includes his wife Peng Liyuan; Wang Huning, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee; Li Zhanshu, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee; and State Councilor Yang Jiechi.