BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping will kick off a four-nation tour Friday, the first by the top leader since last year's national congress of the Communist Party of China and the just-concluded "two sessions."

During the nine-day tour, Xi will pay state visits to Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo. He is also expected to attend the fifth leaders' summit of BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- in the South African city of Durban.

The upcoming tour has drawn worldwide attention as it will open a new chapter for Chinese diplomacy, which advocates peaceful coexistence and promotes win-win cooperation with others nations.

All-round diplomacy

Qu Xing, president of the China Institute of International Studies, a think-tank affiliated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said the tour, which spans Asia, Europe and Africa, demonstrated the country's comprehensive diplomatic strategy.

"The visit involves multiple factors and various fields, such as a world power and a neighboring country, developing nations and multilateral (cooperation)," he said. "It fully embodies China's all-round foreign policy of peace."

In addition, the visit will inherit the past and usher in the future for Chinese diplomacy.

China's development cannot be separated from the world, while global prosperity and stability is also strongly linked to China.

Thanks to the reform and opening-up policy carried out over the past three decades, China has entered a new stage in its economic and social development. In a bid to realize its goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, the country needs to create a more favorable external environment.

Facing the in-depth development of world multi-polarization, economic globalization as well as scientific and technological progress, both Russia and African nations, as well as BRICS members and other countries, are seeking economic revitalization and a new path for development against the backdrop of the continued global economic downturn.

Moreover, China and Russia will coordinate and jointly deal with international and regional hotspot issues, with expected results in trade and economic cooperation and various people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

Liu Guijin, a former Chinese special representative on African affairs, described Xi's visit to the three African nations as "a trip of friendship and inheritance" that was expected to broaden cooperation and map out the future.

He said, in order to boost trade and economic cooperation between China and Africa, China should pay greater attention to Africa's peace and security, exchange experience in governance, increase investment in Africa's manufacturing sector, and stimulate employment and industrial upgrades on the continent by extending industrial chains.

As for the BRICS summit in Durban, the world is looking to the five leading emerging economies to forge a concrete mechanism for their cooperation.

People are also looking forward to tangible results from a scheduled meeting between leaders of BRICS countries and African nations.

Meanwhile, Xi's visit will have a far-reaching influence on the whole world as it will push forward China's relations with Russian and Africa and boost the development of the BRICS mechanism.

China needs to secure sound interaction and mutually beneficial results with other countries across the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Russia-China relations the model of a new relationship between two countries, highlighted by close high-level exchanges in their friendly ties.

The Chinese president's upcoming state visit to Russia was "a major event" in bilateral ties and Moscow expected substantial achievements, he said.