Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse arrived in Beijing Monday, kicking off a seven-day state visit to China.

During his stay in Beijing, Rajapakse is to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, and meet with Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao separately.

As the year 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic ties, Rajapakse will attend a celebration banquet together with Chinese top advisor Jia Qinglin.

Rajapakse will present two corneas to be used for transplants in China, and the two countries will sign a memorandum on cooperation in corneal transplants.

Besides, Rajapakse will also present a replica of a Buddha statue and a five-year old male elephant to China.

Besides Beijing, Rajapakse will also visit China's financial hub Shanghai, Guangzhou, capital city of the booming Guangdong Province in south China, and Hubei province in central China.

Mahinda Rajapakse is here at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

(Source: chinaview.cn February 26, 2007)