RIYADH, April 22: Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in the Saudi capital here on Saturday at the start of a landmark visit aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries at political, strategic and economic levels.

Hours after President Hu’s arrival in Saudi Arabia, a raft of agreements were signed between the two countries. The two countries have agreed to enhance cooperation in various fields, including energy, defence and security.

On Saturday, the two sides signed an agreement to enhance “security cooperation” between them. A contract for defence systems was also signed on the sidelines of President Hu’s meeting with Saudi leaders.

Several memoranda of understandings (MoUs) were also signed between the two states. These included an MoU on health affairs between the health ministries of the two countries and another on comprehensive trade cooperation between China Petro Chemica Corporation (SinoPec) and Saudi Aramco.

The visiting Chinese head of state and King Abdullah discussed regional and international issues, including the situation in Iraq and Palestine-Israel conflict, at their meeting on Saturday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Chinese president was earlier received at the airport by Riyadh Governor Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz. During his three-day stay here, besides holding talks with King Abdullah, he would also meet other Saudi leaders and exchange views with them on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern. They will also discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia.

In his written statement delivered upon arrival at the airport, President Hu said Sino-Saudi relations had steadily progressed since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1990, and the Chinese side was satisfied with the fruitful results of bilateral cooperation in such fields as politics, economy, trade and culture.

He said China attached great importance to its relationship with Saudi Arabia and would work with the Saudi side to continuously push forward the development of bilateral cooperation.

Later President Hu held extensive discussions with King Abdullah. Issues of mutual interest were reportedly discussed during the meeting.

In January 2006, King Abdullah became the first Saudi monarch to visit China. Interestingly, the president reached Riyadh after visiting the US which was largely termed by analysts as an ‘unproductive’ visit.

The presence of Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi at the airport to receive President Hu underscored the importance of energy as a factor in the growing relationship between China and Saudi Arabia.

Mr Nuaimi was expected to attend the 10th International Energy Forum meeting in Doha on Saturday, but he chose to postpone the trip on account of the arrival of the Chinese president. He is now expected to be in Doha on Monday in time for the concluding session of the forum.

On Sunday, President Hu will fly to Dhahran to meet Saudi Aramco officials. President Hu is also scheduled to meet Saudi businessmen and visit the offices of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic).