KHARTOUM -- Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived here Friday for a state visit, which is expected to cement friendship and expand cooperation between China and Sudan.

President Hu was accorded a red-carpet welcome by his Sudanese counterpart Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir.

The two leaders will hold talks on boosting friendly cooperation between the two countries.

Hu will also meet Sudanese First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Second Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, and visit a China-Sudan joint-venture refinery.

The Chinese president said that although the two countries are geographically far away from each other, they enjoy a long-term friendship, according to a written statement delivered upon his arrival,

He believed his visit will lift the traditional ties to a new high.

In recent years, bilateral trade between China and Sudan has witnessed a rapid increase. In the first 11 months of 2006, the trade volume amounted to 2.9 billion U.S. dollars.

The mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries has also expanded into such fields as energy, construction, agriculture, medical and health work as well as education.

This is the third leg of Hu's eight-nation African tour which has taken him to Cameroon and Liberia. He will also visit Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and the Seychelles.

Hu's African trip comes only three months after the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. At the summit, leaders of China and 48 African countries discussed how to develop China-Africa relations and promote unity and cooperation among developing countries.

The leaders agreed to establish and develop a new type of strategic partnership featuring political equality and mutual-trust, economic win-win cooperation and cultural exchanges.