China's President Hu Jintao (L) waves upon his arrival as his wife Liu Yongqing (C) and Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee (R) watch at New Delhi's airport November 20, 2006. Asian giants India and China hope to transform their friendship into a trusting relationship as Hu Jintao arrives in New Delhi on Monday for the second visit by a Chinese president. [Reuters]

New Delhi: President Hu Jintao arrived here Monday evening to start his State visit to India.

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In a written statement delivered upon arrival at the airport, Hu said China and India are close neighbours, and friendly exchanges between the two peoples dated back to ancient times.

He noted that bilateral relations had maintained sound momentum in recent years and the two sides had enjoyed good co-ordination in international and regional affairs.

As the first Chinese president to visit the country in a decade, Hu is expected to work with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to "fill in the specifics" in the strategic partnership, according to Sun Yuxi, Chinese ambassador to India.

China and India announced the establishment of their strategic partnership for peace and prosperity last April in a joint statement signed by Premier Wen Jiabao and Singh.

Hu's talks with Singh today will iron out the details for enhancing this partnership in political, economic, military, cultural, scientific, technological and educational spheres, Sun revealed in a group interview last Friday with Chinese journalists at his residence.

"I believe Hu's visit will push China-India co-operative and friendly relations in an all-round way," he said.

It is expected that the two countries will pledge to maintain regular exchanges between heads of states and increase high-level exchanges. They will improve co-ordination and dialogue on strategic and global issues in international, regional and multilateral arenas, Sun said.

A bilateral agreement to enhance and protect investment is also expected to be finalized and signed, with the hope of ensuring that Indian and Chinese investors receive fair treatment and get legal protection from the other country, Sun said.

He added that a draft of the agreement was signed during Commerce Minister Bo Xilai's visit to India in March this year.

There have been talks about setting US$40 billion as the new target for China-India bilateral trade. The amount this year is expected to reach US$20 billion, which was originally set as the goal for 2008.

"What I expect the coming meetings will achieve is a deepening of economic ties, which have been growing rapidly," Nitin Desai, who used to work in the United Nations as undersecretary general, told China Daily.

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