Chinese president leaves for central Asia visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing Tuesday morning for state visits to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as summits of the Group of Twenty (G20) and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), (Xinhua) News Agency reported. Xi is making the visits at the invitation of Turkmenian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev. The Chinese president will attend the eighth Leaders' Summit of G20 to be held in St. Petersburg from September 5 to 6, at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. He will also attend the 13th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of SCO in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, on September 13, at the invitation of Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev.