Hu Jintao starts state visit to Australia

cctv.com 10-23-2003 09:05

In Sydney, Australia, where Chinese President Hu Jintao has begun a three-day state visit aimed at boosting trade. This is Hu Jintao's first visit to the South Pacific country since he became president early this year.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard met him at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport one day after both attended the APEC informal leaders' meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

Hu Jintao and his entourage were also greeted by New South Wales State officials and members of Sydney's large Chinese community.

China is Australia's third largest trading partner. Two-way trade exceeded 10 billion US dollars last year, a 120-fold increase from 30 years ago, when the two countries established diplomatic relations.

Last year, Australia secured its largest single export order by signing an agreement with China on supply of liquefied natural gas to China's southern province of Guangdong. During Hu Jintao's visit, Canberra is hoping to sign a broad trade agreement with Beijing. It will include a study of a possible free trade agreement, which could take 10 years to materialize.

Shortly after he arrived, Hu paid a courtesy call on Australian Governor-General Michael Jeffery and voiced satisfaction with the development of cooperative relations between the two countries.

Jeffery congratulated Hu on the successful completion of China's first manned space flight a week ago.

Hu said thanks to joints efforts of both sides, economic and technological cooperation has steadily expanded. He specifically pointed to the strategic cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector.

On Thursday, Hu will visit Sydney's Olympic Park, site of the 2000 Games. Beijing is due to host the event in 2008. Hu is also scheduled to meet representatives of major Australian companies keen to do more business with China.

Editor:Zhang  Source:CCTV.com