President Jorge Sampaio of the Portuguese Republic arrived in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Sunday afternoon, kicking off his two-day visit.

During his stay, Sampaio will meet with Chief Executive of the Macao SAR Edmund Ho Hau Wah, and pay visits to the Portuguese Institute of the Orient on Jan. 17, and some famous landmarks, including the A-Ma Statue and the A-Ma Cultural Village on Coloane Island, the Ruins of St. Paul's Church and Senado Square in the downtown.

Sampaio and his wife Maria Rita Sampaio will host a banquet for the local Portuguese community at the residence of the Portuguese Consul General in Macao on Jan. 17.

Sampaio was accompanied by more then 100 Portuguese entrepreneurs, who will attend a trade fair here on Jan. 17 which is jointly organized by the Trade and Economy Promotion Institute of Portugal, the Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of Guangdong Province and the Trade and Investment Promotion Institute of Macao.

Sampaio is on an official visit to China from Jan. 11 to 17 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. He has been to Beijing and Shanghai. Macao is the last stop of his China visit.

Sampaio visited China in January 1997, and he attended the ceremony of China resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Macao in 1999.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2005)