Xi's three-nation tour

President Xi Jinping is scheduled to pay state visits to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico starting Friday. The visits will deepen China's ties with the three nations and inject new vitality into China's interaction with Latin America and the Caribbean.

That Latin America and the Caribbean have been chosen as the destinations for Xi's second overseas trip since he took the helm of the country indicates China's new leadership considers building friendly ties with the regions a priority for the country's diplomacy.

Xi's visit to Trinidad and Tobago, the first trip by a Chinese president to an English-speaking country in the Caribbean, is expected to bring bilateral relations, as well as relations with the English-speaking part of the Caribbean, to a new level. China is expanding its exchanges with Trinidad and Tobago in such areas as infrastructure and communications, and jointly tapping the potential in energy and tourist sectors.