President Xi leaves for visit to Paris, Africa

Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing on Sunday for visit to Paris and Africa. Xi will attend the opening ceremony of the 21th UN conference on climate change in Paris from Nov. 29 to 30 at the invitation of French President Francois Hollande as well as French Foreign Minister and chair of the climate change conference Laurent Fabius. The president will pay a state visit to Zimbabwe from Dec. 1 to 2 at the invitation of his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe. Xi will also pay a state visit to South Africa from Dec. 2 to 5 at the invitation of South African President Jacob Zuma, and chair the summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg. Xi's entourage includes his wife Peng Liyuan; Wang Huning, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee; Li Zhanshu, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee; and State Councilor Yang Jiechi.