Portuguese president starts China visit

President Jorge Sampaio of the Portuguese Republic arrived in Beijing Tuesday evening, kicking off his seven-day state visit to China as guest of President Hu Jintao.

During his stay in Beijing, Sampaio will meet with Chinese leaders and attend the opening ceremony of a Sino-Portuguese cultural ties exhibition. Besides Beijing, he will also visit Shanghai, China's economic hub.

Sampaio visited China in January 1997, and he attended the ceremony of China resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Macao in 1999.