Chinese president meets 11 foreign leaders on eve of Beijing Olympics

2008-08-08

Just one day ahead of the grand opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, Chinese President Hu Jintao had a very tight diplomatic schedule on Thursday, meeting separately with leaders from 11 foreign countries in the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

The eleven included Laotian President Choummaly Saygnasone, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, DPRK top legislator KimYong Nam, Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, Serbian President Boris Tadic, Montenegro President Filip Vujanovic, and Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos Horta.

All the foreign leaders have come to the Chinese capital to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, scheduled for Friday evening in the National Stadium, popularly known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, President Hu extended a warm welcome to all the leaders, and thanked them for supporting the Beijing Olympic Games.

Source: Xinhua