Belarusian President Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko arrived in Beijing Sunday night, kicking off a three-day official visit to China.

During his visit, Lukashenko is expected to hold talks with President Hu Jintao and meet with other senior Chinese officials including top legislator Wu Bangguo, Vice Premier Huang Ju, and Liu Qi, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Prior to his trip to China, Lukashenko told the press that Belarus and China are witnessing increasingly deepening ties and Belarus is committed to boosting economic links with China.

Lukashenko pays the visit as a guest of Hu. This is his third time to visit China as president of Belarus.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2005)