Chinese President Hu Jintao flied to Cairo from Paris Thursday afternoon, kicking off his four-day state visit to the country.  

Egyptian President Muhammed Hosni Mubarak is expected to greet Hu with a welcoming ceremony soon after his arrival.

Hu said in a written speech upon arrival at the airport that he would hold talks with Mubarak and meet with other Egyptian leaders, discussing with them bilateral ties and other issues of shared concern.

Noting bilateral relations have stood the test of time and the changing international circumstances, Hu said the ties have been proceeding stably, while bilateral cooperation has been expanded and scored important results since the two countries set up strategic relations of cooperation oriented to the 21st century in1999.

He said China values its ties with Egypt and is ready to join the Egyptian side to consolidate and deepen, in a continuous way, strategic bilateral ties of cooperation in the interests of the two peoples.

It is the first trip to Africa by a Chinese head of state since China's new leadership took office. Hu's wife Liu Yongqing and State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan arrived aboard the same plane.

Egypt is the second leg of Hu's four-nation tour after France, which will also take him to Gabon and Algeria for state visits.

On his way to Cairo, Hu made a stop-over in Toulouse and visited the A340-600 final assembly lines and A380 mock-up center of the Airbus, which is headquartered in the French city.

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2004)