Bolivia's Morales Visits China
President-elect of Bolivia Evo Morales arrived on Sunday in this capital for a brief visit, as part of his world tour before his inauguration scheduled for Jan 22.

The leader of the Movement towards Socialism (MAS), who will stay in Beijing for little over 24 hours, will meet with Chinese President Hu Hintao on Monday, according to sources from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

At Beijing International Airport, Morales was welcomed by Vice Minister of Foreign Relations for Latin America Yang Jiechi, and Bolivia"s ambassador to Beijing Augusto Arguedas del Carpio.

Ambassadors of Cuba and Venezuela, Alberto Rodriguez Arufe and Rocio Maneiro Gonzalez also welcomed Morales.

Also on Sunday, Evo Morales is expected to meet with State Counselor Tang Jiaxuan and other officials of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee International Department.

Relations between China and Bolivia are excellent, ambassador Arguedas had told Prensa Latina before Morales" arrival.

The Bolivian diplomat recalled that last year both countries celebrated the 20th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations and stressed that trade exchanges multiplied by ten in the last ten years.

Political-diplomatic relations have a good level and we hope they will continue improving, he said.

Arguedes described this visit as very important and said that, in his opinion, this means that the next government of Bolivia hopes to hold a privileged relation with China.

Morales arrived in Beijing from Paris, where he met with French authorities as part of his tour previously including visits to Cuba, Venezuela, Spain, Holland and Belgium, where he met with representatives of the European Union.