Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao arrived in Iran Friday on the first stage of a five-country tour that will also take him to Syria, Jordan, Cyprus and Uganda, state television reported.
Greeted at Tehran airport by his Iranian counterpart Hassan Habibi and other officials, Hu told journalists his visit concerned bilateral relations and regional and international matters.
Hu's entourage includes vice foreign minister Ji Peiding, vice minister in charge of the State Development Planning Commission Wang Yang and vice minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Sun Guangxiang.
During his five-day stay he is scheduled to have talks with President Mohammed Khatami, parliament speaker Mehdi Karubi and Vice President Mohammad Hashemi.
He is also to visit Isfahan in central Iran and Shiraz in the south.
China and Iran have close political, economic and military ties, and Khatami made an official visit to Beijing in June.
Trade is on the increase, reaching a record 1.4 billion dollars last year. Iran sells China mainly oil in exchange for industrial goods -- TEHRAN (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
