Xi Jinping

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, a presumptive next-generation leader, will visit South Korea from Dec. 17 to 19 at Seoul's invitation, a diplomatic source in Beijing said Sunday.

Xi will visit Tokyo first on Dec. 14 to 17, where he will talk with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. North Korea was the first country he visited since he became vice president in March last year. He has since been to Latin America and Europe.

He first came to South Korea in 2005, when he was party secretary in Zhejiang Province. Following his visit to Seoul, he moves on to Cambodia and Burma.

Xi was elected to the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China's 17th Central Committee in 2007 and is tipped to succeed to President Hu Jintao, whose term expires in 2012.