'Good friends feel close' even from afar

Before Rwanda state visit, Xi reaches out to locals with newspaper article

President Xi Jinping said he hopes that his visit to Rwanda will inject new impetus into the friendship between the two countries and benefit of the peoples of both.

Xi made the remark in a signed article published by the mainstream Rwandan newspaper The New Times on Saturday, ahead of his state visit to the African country. The visit, which began on Sunday, is not only Xi's first to Rwanda, but also the first visit made by any Chinese president to the West African country.