MAPUTO -- Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Mozambique's capital Maputo on Thursday from South Africa for a state visit.

During the visit, President Hu is expected to meet Mozambican President Armando Emilio Guebuza and other Mozambican leaders on the further development of friendship and cooperation between China and the southern African country.

China and Mozambique have enjoyed sound development of bilateral ties since the two countries set up diplomatic relations 31 years ago. In recent years, the two countries have nurtured mutually beneficial cooperation in infrastructure construction, agriculture and other areas.

In 2006, China agreed to endorse Mozambique as a new tourist destination in an effort to intensify bilateral cooperation in the tourism industry.

Mozambique is the seventh leg of President Hu's eight-nation Africa tour that has already taken him to Cameroon, Liberia, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, and South Africa. He will also visit Seychelles.

The Chinese president said earlier that his current visit to the huge continent is aimed at consolidating the traditional friendship between China and Africa, implementing the agreements reached at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last November, enlarging substantial cooperation and promoting common development between the two sides.

At the Beijing Summit, leaders of China and 48 African countries agreed to establish and develop a new type of strategic partnership, featuring political equality and mutual trust, economic win-win cooperation and cultural exchanges.