Vice-President Xi Jinping arrived back home from Turkey yesterday, wrapping up a 10-day image-polishing trip that also took him to the United States and Ireland.
During his five days in the US, China's leader-in-waiting visited four cities: Washington in the east, Muscatine and Des Moines in the Midwest, and Los Angeles in the west.
He then headed to Ireland, where he stayed in Shannon and Dublin. In Dublin, Xi vowed that China would consider more involvement in helping address European debt issues.
In Turkey, trade imbalances topped his agenda with top officials, but Xi also called on Turkey to crack down on separatist activities by anti-China forces in its territory.
Ireland was the only European Union nation Xi (pictured) visited.
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Xi's trip to Ireland, which would hold the EU presidency during the first half of next year, injected a new driving force behind the development of Sino-EU relations.