Chinese President Hu Jintao concluded his two-day state visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) Tuesday, leaving Seoul for Tajikistan's capital of Dushanbe to continue his three-nation Asian tour.

In Seoul, President Hu and his ROK counterpart Lee Myung-bak exchanged views on bilateral ties and major international and regional issues. The Chinese leader also met with other ROK leaders and took part in a series of activities.

During their meetings, the Chinese and ROK leaders pledged to make joint efforts to further intensify bilateral relations.

The two countries signed a number of cooperation documents during President Hu's visit.

Cooperative relations between China and the ROK have developed constantly and steadily since the establishment of diplomatic ties16 years ago.

The two countries have maintained frequent exchanges of high-level visits and trade cooperation has fast expanded, with China becoming the ROK's biggest trading partner. Two-way trade volume totaled over 159 billion U.S. dollars last year.

In the first five months of this year, bilateral trade volume increased by 24 percent over the corresponding period of 2007.

President Hu arrived in Seoul Monday on the first leg of his three-nation tour. He will fly to Dushanbe for a state visit to Tajikistan and attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, following which he will visit Turkmenistan.

(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2008)