President Hu arrives in Seoul for state visit (Xinhua) Updated: 2005-11-16 08:42 After concluding his trip to
three European countries -- Britain, Germany and Spain, Chinese President Hu
Jintao arrived in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Wednesday for a state
visit to push forward bilateral relations.
In Seoul, Hu Jintao is expected to meet with his South Korean counterpart,
Roh Moo-hyun, and other leaders on the further development of the comprehensive
cooperative partnership, established between the two countries in 2003.
Economic and trade cooperation between China and South Korea has expanded
steadily since the two Asian countries set up diplomatic relations in 1992. The
annual bilateral trade volume grew by 27 percent on average during the past 12
years, jumping from 5 billion US dollars in 1992 to 90 billion dollars in 2004.
Trade between the two neighbors is expected to exceed 100 billion dollars
this year.
China is South Korea's largest trade partner and South Korea China's fourth
largest.
On Thursday, Hu Jintao will fly to Busan for the Economic Leaders' Meeting of
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) slated for Nov. 18-19.
The theme of the Busan meeting is "Towards One Community: Meet the Challenge,
Make the Change." The theme summarizes the strenuous will of APEC member
economies to achieve the vision to build one "economic community" in the
Asia-Pacific regio
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