Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived here on Monday for a state visit as guest of Indian President Abdul Kalam.

    This is the first visit to India by a Chinese head of state in 10 years.

    In a written statement delivered upon his arrival at the airport, Hu said China and India were close neighbors, and the friendly exchanges between the two peoples dated back to ancient times.

    In recent years, he said, China-India relations had maintained sound momentum of all-round growth, marked by strengthened mutual political trust, expanded mutually beneficial cooperation, broadened friendly exchanges and good coordination in international and regional affairs.

    Both China and India were large developing countries, and good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation between China and India both benefited the two peoples and contributed to peace and development in Asia and beyond, Hu said.

    He said this visit was to enhance friendship, increase mutual trust, strengthen cooperation and chart the course for our future relations. Hu looked forward to in-depth exchanges of views with Indian leaders and public representatives on bilateral relations, as well as international and regional issues of mutual interest.

    He said he was convinced that this visit would strengthen the countries' bilateral traditional friendship, enhance mutual trust, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote the growth of the China-India strategic and cooperative partnership.

    India is the third leg of Hu's four-nation tour, which has already taken him to Vietnam and Laos, and will also take him to Pakistan.

    He also attended the 14th APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 17 to 19 in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam.