Xi Jinping to make first official US visit this year

Brace yourself, Americans - Xi Dada is comin' your way. The Chinese ambassador to America, Cui Tiankai, has been quoted saying that Xi and Co. are planning a visit sometime this year, though an actual date was not announced.

This will hardly be Xi's first time on American soil. He met with Obama on more informal terms in California in 2013, and has made numerous other trips to the United States in his life, including visits to Washington DC and a 1985 trip to Iowa.

But this upcoming trip will be Xi Jinping's first "official state visit" to the U-S-of-A, meaning he will be visiting top American lawmakers and discussing policy matters that may actually lead to some decisions being made, a la Obama and Xi's climate change agreement in Beijing late last year.

Don't think Xi is getting the cushy Washington treatment all to himself - the US State Department has also issued formal invitations to President Park Geun-hye of South Korea, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia and none other than Xi's arch rival, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.

If Xi and Abe happen to cross paths in America, we can only hope for a handshake of the same high-caliber, no-holds-barred awkwardness that ensued in APEC. Obama, please make this happen.