Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Azerbaijan and three Balkan countries amid Beijing’s push to shore up its trade corridors and geopolitical influence in the regions.

Axar.az informs, citing South China Morning Post, Wang will attend the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday “as special representative of President Xi Jinping”, according to China’s foreign ministry.

Aside from Azerbaijan, Beijing’s top diplomat will visit Croatia, Montenegro and Bulgaria, it said, for a four-nation trip running from October 14 to 20.

This will mark Wang’s first visit to Azerbaijan in seven years.