On September 14, Xi will visit Kazakhstan, the SCMP reported citing a Monday announcement at a briefing by the Kazakh foreign ministry. It follows months of speculation about the location of Xi's first trip abroad since he went to Myanmar in January 2020. Beijing's strict zero-Covid policy has curtailed travel inside and out of the country, and Xi and other senior figures have not left China since the start of the pandemic.

Of the 25 Politburo members, only foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi has travelled abroad. Meanwhile, the country's No 3 official, Li Zhanshu, will go to Russia on Wednesday in a sign that China's top officials are resuming international travel. Li, head of the legislature, will also visit Mongolia, Nepal and South Korea.

As reported previously, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said Xi will visit Bali for the Group of 20 summit in November - where Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy will also be present.

Xi will meet Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for talks the host government said were "aimed at further deepening the eternal comprehensive strategic partnership and developing political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation".