Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay state visits to the United Arab Emirates, Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa from July 19 to 24, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang announced on Thursday.

Xi will stay on in South Africa's biggest city Johannesburg for the 10th BRICS summit from July 25 to 27, followed by a visit to Mauritius during a stopover, Lu said.

The Africa leg will be the Chinese president's fourth trip to the continent.

March 30, 2013: Chinese President Xi Jinping (L, front) and Denis Sassou Nguesso (R, front), the president of the Republic of Congo, attend the completion ceremony of the China-Republic of Congo Friendship Hospital project in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. /Xinhua Photo

In March 2013, during his first overseas trip as China’s head of state, Xi visited a number of countries in Africa, including Tanzania, the Republic of Congo and South Africa, where he attended the Fifth BRICS summit in Durban.

In 2015, he attended the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg. 

Dec. 4, 2015: Chinese President Xi Jinping (C), South African President Jacob Zuma (L) and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the Exhibition on 15 Years of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, in Johannesburg. /Xinhua Photo 

The following year, he visited Egypt to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Egypt.

The theme for this year's BRICS summit is "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution." 

The last BRICS summit was held in September 2017 in Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province.

BRICS is the acronym for an emerging-market bloc that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

(Top image: File photo)