Xi visits South Africa 'to leverage cooperation with continent'

AMID high global attention and expectations, Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing for Johannesburg earlier this week, not only for a state visit to South Africa, but also to attend the Brics summit, which began on Tuesday and ends on Thursday.

The visit is being widely welcomed by local scholars, who see it as a strong boost to deep-rooted China-South Africa relations as the two countries celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic relations in 1998.