Xi Jinping looks to boost ties during visit to Moscow
Visit to Moscow tomorrow is his first as president and will see him try to build on shared interests - especially countering power of US-led West
President Xi Jinping will arrive in Moscow tomorrow on his first overseas trip as China's head of state. Russia has been chosen in a bid to further tap into the enormous shared geopolitical and business interests of the two neighbours, which share a complicated past.
First lady Peng Liyuan, a famous folk singer, will accompany her husband on the trip.
It will mark the couple's first public appearance together since Xi took the helm of the Communist Party in November.
Analysts expect Peng will be different from her predecessors by taking a more active role in community services to promote the country's "soft power", as her foreign counterparts often do.
Western diplomats and analysts see China's growing ties with Russia as evidence of a shared interest in countering the US-led Western alliance's domination of global affairs.
Professor Kerry Brown, executive director of the University of Sydney's China Studies Centre, said that for Xi, the visit to Russia was recognition of the global reach of China's interests.