Economy prioritized in Xi's trip to Europe

Senior diplomats say priority areas for cooperation - such as connectivity and new energy cars - are likely to be part of the deals to be signed during President Xi Jinping's upcoming state visit to Russia and Germany.

They spoke about the president's trip at a briefing on Thursday in Beijing. Xi's two state visits are scheduled from Monday to Thursday, with G20 summit meetings in Germany set for the two days after that.

Xi's Russia trip comes as the two major economies are seeing frequent high-level exchanges and rapid progress in areas such as energy, investment and infrastructure.