Xi's special envoy to visit African countries

BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping's special envoy Yang Jiechi will pay official visits to Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone early next month, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said Friday.

Yang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, will exchange views with officials of the three countries respectively on promoting bilateral ties as well as international and regional issues of common concern, Geng said.

Yang will make the visits at the invitation of the three countries' governments, Geng said.