At the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Malian President Amadou Toumany Toure arrived in Beijing Thursday, kicking off his five-day state visit to China.

This is Toure's first China tour since he assumed presidency in 2002.

Besides Beijing, Toure and his entourage, including some ministers from Malian cabinet in charge of foreign affairs, agriculture, commerce, education and investment, will visit

Shanghai municipality in east China and Guangdong province in south China .

China and Mali have enjoyed healthy and steady development of bilateral ties since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1960.

The Malian government attaches importance to its relations with China, and adheres to the one-China policy. The trade volume between China and Mali reached 63.59 million US dollars in 2003.

Source: Xinhua