President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Central Asia next month will be a good chance for the outside world to better understand the innovative diplomacy of China's new leadership, which features a balanced approach to forging pragmatic cooperation with both old and new partners.

The Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that Xi will pay state visits to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan from Sept 3 to 13. He is also scheduled to attend the summit of the G20, due to be held in St. Petersburg from Sept 5 to 6, as well as the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, on Sept 13.

The itinerary for Xi's trip and its intensive schedule are evidence that China's new leaders are keen to cement old friendships and forge new ones, and want to enable the outside world to better understand where China stands on bilateral and multilateral platforms.