Xi to attend BRICS summit, visit Latin America

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a BRICS summit in Brazil and visit three other Latin American countries later this month, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Xi will attend the sixth BRICS leaders' meeting on July 15 and 16 at the invitation of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, according to spokesman Qin Gang.

BRICS is the acronym for five major emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Qin said Xi will pay state visits to Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba from July 17 to 23.

In Brazil, Xi will also meet leaders of Latin American and Caribbean nations.

This month's visit will be Xi's second Latin American tour as president. Last year, he visited Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico from May 31 to June 6, during which he held talks with leaders of eight Caribbean nations.