Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will pay formal visits to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and Ethiopia from January 7th to 11th, foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu announced on Wednesday.

Yang's visit is arranged upon invitations by South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, DRC Foreign Minister Mbusa Nyamwisi, Burundian Minister of External Relations and Cooperation, Antoinette Batumubwira, and Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, she said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 3, 2008)