Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit next week.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu made the announcement at a regular press briefing on Thursday.

At the invitation of Uzbek President Islam Karimovm, Hu will pay a state visit to the country and attend the annual SCO summit in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent from June 9 to 11, Jiang said.

Established in 2001, the regional body SCO now groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

As guest of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Hu will visit Kazakhstan from June 11 to 12, Jiang said.