Iraqi President visits east China

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Monday visited Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

Nanjing was the third leg of Talabani's week-long state visit to China.

In a meeting with Jiangsu Vice Governor Zhang Weiguo Monday evening, Talabani praised the great changes in the province over the past 50 years since he last set foot in Nanjing in 1955.

He said Iraq and China had no obstacles in developing their cooperation.

Zhang said Jiangsu and Iraq complemented each other economically and could cooperate widely on science, technology, education, health care and culture.

Earlier on Monday, Talabani and his entourage visited Nanjing Museum.

Talabani is the first Iraqi president to visit China since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1958.

The visit took Talabani to Beijing and northwest China's ancient city of Xi'an.

During his stay in Beijing, Chinese President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao held talks or met with him respectively. China and Iraq also signed four agreements, including one that canceled some Iraqi debt.

Talabani was elected president of Iraq in April 2005, becoming the first Kurdish president in Iraqi history.

Source: Xinhua