Russia's Medvedev visits China on 1st foreign trip

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's president-elect Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday he would travel to China as part of his first foreign visit following his inauguration next month.

"As I promised ... I will first go to Kazakhstan, a country that is close to us, and from Kazakhstan I will go to China. That will be my first international trip," Medvedev said in a question-and-answer session at a Russian newspaper.

Medvedev takes over from Vladimir Putin as Russia's president on May 7. Putin, who has been president for eight years, says Russia's ties with China have never been better.

(Reporting by Oleg Shchedrov; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Robert Woodward)