China attaches great importance to the upcoming visit by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to the country, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Tuesday.

Qin told a regular press briefing that at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Karzai will pay a state visit to China from March 23 to 25.

"We warmly welcome President Karzai to visit China," Qin said.

This will be Karzai's first visit to China since he was re-elected as the Afghan president last November.

During the visit, Hu Jintao will hold talks with Karzai. Other Chinese leaders will also meet with him, including Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), and Premier Wen Jiabao.

Qin said the two sides will exchange views on advancing bilateral links, expanding cooperation in various fields and on regional and international issues of common concern.

"We wish that the visit by President Karzai will further advance the progress of the good neighborly, friendly and cooperative relations between China and Afghanistan," Qin said.

Karzai visited Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in August 2008 and paid a state visit to China in June 2006. He made his first visit to China as the head of the transitional government of Afghanistan in 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2010)