CCTV9英语新闻：President Xi Jinping in Czech Republic for three-day state visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping is now on a three-day state visit to the Czech Republic. It is President Xi's first visit to a Central-Eastern European country since he assumed the presidency in 2013 and his first trip to Europe this year.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R front) arrives at the airport in Prague, Czech Republic, March 28, 2016. Xi started a three-day state visit to the Czech Republic from Monday. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

A Chinese President touching down in the Czech Republic, the first time in history since the two countries established diplomatic ties 67 years ago.

President Xi Jinping was received by Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek and other senior officials at the airport.

President Xi will recieve the highest level official welcoming on Tuesday, with a 21 gun salute, the first by the Czech Republic in over half a century.

Even before touching down, the country sent two fighter jets to escort President Xi's plane when it entered the country's airspace.

President Xi said that the Czech Republic has become an important partner for China in the Central and Eastern Europe region and a good friend in the European Union.

The Czech Republic has become China's second biggest trade partner in the Central and Eastern European region, and China is the Czech Republic’s largest trading partner outside the EU.

In 2015, the volume of two-way trade between the countries topped 11 billion US dollars. Bilateral cooperation in nuclear power, finance, aviation, science, technology and agriculture scaled new heights both in level and scale.

President Xi Jinping met his counterpart Milos Zeman at the Lany chateau, the country residence of the Czech President. President Xi is the first foreign president to be welcomed at the chateau. During the over two-hour meeting, President Xi said that bilateral ties are currently advancing on a fast track. 

Last year, Beijing and Prague signed an MOU jointly promoting the "Belt and Road" initiative, which opened up even wider prospects for bilateral exchanges and cooperation in all fields.

President Xi Jinping also said that China supports the integration of Europe, and is happy to see a prosperous, united and stable Europe.

President Milos Zeman expressed his country's willingness to promote China's relations with the Central and Eastern European region.

The two leaders planted a small Ginkgo tree from China. The tree signifies a long-lasting friendship between two countries.

People-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries are also flourishing. In 2015, 300,000 Chinese visited the Czech Republic.

""President Xi's visit is the first state visit by a Chinese leader since the two countries established their diplomatic relations. We are very excited about it, and hope this high-level activity will bring our relations to a higher level," Guan Shaoji with Chinese Nat'l Living in Czech Republic said.