On April 22, Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, kicking off his state visit to this country, which is aimed at pushing for in-depth progress of bilateral strategic friendly cooperative ties.

At 8:50 am, local time, Hu's special plane arrived at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing were warmly welcomed by Emir of Riyadh Region Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Ibrahim Naimi, Mayor of Riyadh City Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Ibn Ayaf Al Miqren and other officials at the airport.

In his written speech delivered at the airport, Hu pointed out that since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1990, bilateral relations have been developing steadily with fruitful cooperation in the areas of politics, economy, trade and culture. China is satisfied with these achievements. China attaches great importance to developing relations with Saudi Arabia and would like to work with Saudi Arabia to continuously deepen bilateral friendly cooperation.

Hu noted that during his visit, he will hold talks with King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz, meet with other Saudi Arabian leaders and exchange views with them on bilateral relations, as well as international and regional issues of common interest. It is believed that this visit will surely further build up friendship between both countries and their people and push for continuous development of bilateral strategic friendly cooperative relations.

Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Wu Chunhua and the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Saudi Arabia welcomed Hu and his delegation at the airport.

State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan and other companions arrived by the same plane.

Hu arrived in Riyadh from Windsor Locks, Connecticut, by special plane after concluding his visit to the US. Before concluding his visit there, Hu arrived in Windsor Locks from Washington by special plane on April 21. From there he went to Yale University to deliver an important speech.

Saudi Arabia is the second leg of Hu's current tour. Later he will also pay state visits to Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya.