The Dalai Lama, who has twice since 2009 been denied a visa for South Africa, is not planning to attend his fellow Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela's funeral, his spokesman said Sunday.

"He has no plans to go," spokesman Tenzin Takhla told AFP in the northern Indian hilltop town of Dharamsala where the Tibetan spiritual leader is headquartered.

Takhla did not say why the Dalai Lama would not attend Mandela's national memorial service on Tuesday or the December 15 burial at his boyhood home of Qunu.

But the Dalai Lama was controversially denied a visa to South Africa in 2011 after being invited to give a lecture as part of celebrations for the 80th birthday of Mandela's fellow anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu.

It was the second time that Pretoria had denied the Dalai Lama entry after refusing him a visa in 2009.

The Dalai Lama has been based in India since he fled China in 1959 followed a failed anti-Beijing uprising in his homeland.

China seeks to curb his overseas travels, and warns foreign governments that any visit by the spiritual leader would harm relations.

Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of being a separatist and of fomenting trouble in his homeland. The Dalai Lama says he merely seeks more autonomy for his people though non-violent means.

China's Xi pays tribute to Mandela
Beijing (AFP) Dec 06, 2013 - President Xi Jinping led China's tributes to Nelson Mandela Friday, praising his "historic contribution" to South Africa and the world following the death of the anti-apartheid leader.

"Mr Mandela was a world renowned statesman," Xi said in a message of condolence to South African President Jacob Zuma, according to a report posted on the central government's website.

"With arduous and extraordinary efforts, he led the people of South Africa to success in the struggle against apartheid, making a historic contribution to the birth and development of a new South Africa," it said.

Mandela, who visited China twice, "actively promoted friendly cooperation between China and South Africa in various areas", it added.

"The Chinese people will forever keep in memory the outstanding contributions he made to... the development of humankind."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Chinese leaders will attend "relevant activities" concerning Mandela's funeral.

"He is not only admired by South African people but also respected by people from China and all the other countries around the world," the spokesman said.

In an earlier statement he described him as an "old friend of the Chinese people".

Vice President Li Yuanchao visited the South African Embassy in Beijing Friday, the spokesman added.

Outside the embassy, flowers were laid before an image of Mandela labelled with one of his quotes: "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

"He is an incredible person," said Yang Yang, a 31-year-old passerby. "After all that happened to him, all he spoke of was peace."

A steady stream of Chinese journalists arrived at the premises.

"I think most Chinese people will be saddened by the news that he has died," said law student Ji Xutao, 23, watching the media pack.

"Many people do not know the details of what he achieved, but we know he was a good man."

During the struggle against apartheid the Chinese Communist Party supported the Pan Africanist Congress, a rival to Mandela's Moscow-backed ANC, and it was not until 1998, four years into his presidential term, that diplomatic ties between the two were established.

News of the death led major Chinese web portals and was a top topic on the country's weibo microblog networks.

"A great man passed away," wrote one poster. "Mandela is great because he persisted with fighting in a non-violent way despite facing an unfair world, promoted reconciliation, not revenge, between different ethnic groups after gaining power, and gave up power... He was a man with real sense of mission -- the kind of person China is currently lacking."