BEIJING  -- The following are the top 10 world news events in the year 2013 selected by Xinhua:

1. New prospects opened in China's diplomacy

In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Russia on the first stop of his maiden overseas tour as the country's top leader, lifting China's comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination with Russia to a new level.

In June, Xi and his US counterpart, Barack Obama, met at the Annenberg estate in the US state of California. The two presidents reached important consensus on forging a new type of major-country relationship that features mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

Over the year, the new generation of Chinese leaders paid visits to countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and North America,  proposing to build a Silk Road economic belt and a 21st-century maritime Silk Road, as well as to upgrade the China-ASEAN free trade zone.

They envisaged a blueprint of comprehensive cooperation between China and its neighbors, injected fresh impetus to the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and other developing nations, and opened up new prospects in the country's diplomacy.

 Special Coverage

Xi visits Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and Congo	Xi visits US, Latin America	Xi visits Indonesia, Malaysia, attends APEC summit