Chinese President Xi Jinping will stop off in Greece on his way to South America next week, China's foreign ministry said Friday, the second high-level visit to the southern European country in a month.

Xi will land on the Greek island of Rhodes on a technical stop on his way to Brazil, where he will attend the BRICS summit, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a daily news briefing.

"During the stop Xi will meet Greece's president and prime minister," Qin said, without providing details.

The Greek government said Xi would be on Rhodes on Sunday and have lunch with Greek President Karolos Papoulias.