Belgian King Albert II arrived in Beijing on Saturday morning, starting a state visit to China from June 4 to 11. It is the first China tour by a Belgian state head in the past 24 years.

During the visit, the King will hold talks or meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao, according to diplomatic sources.

The visit is expected to further promote bilateral relations and cooperation in all fields.

Besides Beijing, the King is also scheduled to visit Chinese economic hub Shanghai, northwest Province of Shaanxi and eastern Province of Jiangsu.

China and Belgium established diplomatic relations in 1971. The Sino-Belgian trade surged about 450 percent from 1971 to 2004 to hit 9.38 billion US dollars and the contractual investment of Belgian companies in China reached 1.22 billion dollars in 2004.

Source: Xinhua