Chinese president ends visit to Costa Rica

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-18 08:06

SAN JOSE -- Chinese President Hu Jintao ended his state visit to Costa Rica and left San Jose on Monday for Havana to continue his five-nation trip.

During his visit, Hu and his Costa Rican counterpart Oscar Arias Sanchez held talks on expansion of friendly cooperation between China and Costa Rica.

Chinese President Hu Jintao(L) meets with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias(R) in San Jose, capital of Costa Rica, Nov. 17, 2008.

This was the fist state visit by a Chinese head of state to Costa Rica and Central America.

Chinese President Hu Jintao(L) meets with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias(R) in San Jose, capital of Costa Rica, Nov. 17, 2008. [Xinhua]

Since China and Costa Rica established diplomatic ties in June 2007, bilateral relations have developed rapidly and friendly cooperation has been expanded in various sectors.

China is Costa Rica's second biggest trading partner. In 2007, bilateral trade amounted to $2.8 billion, a 33-percent increase over the previous year.

The Chinese president, who is on a five-nation trip, flew in on Sunday from Washington, where he attended a Group of 20 summit on the current international financial crisis.

He will also visit Peru and Greece, and attend the Economic Leaders' Informal Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in the Peruvian capital of Lima.