On February 1, 2007, Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Monrovia for a state visit to Liberia.

At 12:20, local time, Hu's special plane arrived at the Roberts International Airport in Monrovia. Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing were warmly welcomed by Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and other officials at the airport. Johnson-Sirleaf hosted a grand ceremony at the airport to welcome Hu's state visit to the western African state, which was attended by all members of the Liberian cabinet.

In a written statement issued at the airport upon his arrival, the Chinese president said that Liberia is an important country in West Africa. Committed to peace, stability and national reconciliation, reconstruction and development, the Liberian government and people follow the policy of good-neighborliness and friendship and are engaged in all-round diplomacy, making gratifying achievements, Hu said. The Chinese people sincerely wish the Liberian people to make continuous progress in the future, he added.

Hu said the Chinese and Liberian peoples have always enjoyed friendship. In recent years, thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, the relations have grown fast and the cooperation in various fields has completely resumed and yielded marked results, he said. President Johnson-Sirleaf paid a successful state visit to China and attended the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last November. Hu described Johnson-Sirleaf's Beijing trip as "taking the bilateral ties to a new level."

Hu emphasized that the current visit is aimed at deepening the traditional friendship, building up mutual understanding and trust, and expanding pragmatic cooperation of mutual benefits, so as to push for bilateral ties. Hu said he looked forward to exchanging in-depth views with President Johnson-Sirleaf on bilateral ties and other major issues of common interest.

Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan and other accompanying officials arrived by the same plane.

Chinese Ambassador to Liberia Lin Songtian and other staff of the embassy also greeted the Chinese delegation at the airport.

Hu arrived in Monrovia from the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde after concluding his state visit to Cameroon. Upon Hu's departure, President Biya hosted a grand seeing-off ceremony for him at the airport, which was attended by Cameroon Prime Minister Inoni Ephraim, President of the National Assembly of Cameroon (NAC) Cavaye Yeguie Djibril and other Cameroonian officials, as well as foreign diplomats in Cameroon.

Liberia is the second leg of Hu's current eight-nation Africa tour that will also take him to Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and the Seychelles.