Chinese President Jiang Zemin has agreed to come to Iran on an official state visit, his Vice President Hu Jintao said here Saturday.
"The president has accepted an invitation from President Mohammad Khatami to make a state visit in Iran, with the date to be fixed between the two foreign ministries," he said, cited by Iran's official IRNA news agency.
Tehran and Beijing have close military and economic ties, and Khatami made a state visit to China in June.
Hu arrived Friday for a five-day visit and held talks Saturday with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Habibi on Afghanistan, the Middle East and bilateral relations.
Hu "condemned the massacre of Palestinians by the Israeli army," IRNA said, while Habibi stressed that a "lasting peace can never be attained without restoring the rights of the Palestinians."
The two sides also agreed on continuing their military ties -- China is one of Iran's major suppliers of military technology -- and to cooperate in the oil, energy and industrial sectors, IRNA said.
Hu is due to meet with Khatami as well as parliamentary speaker Mehdi Karubi during his visit before going on to Jordan, Cyprus and Uganda.
Iran's primary trade with China is the sale of oil in exchange for industrial equipment. Trade between the two nations hit a record 1.4 billion dollars in 1999 -- TEHRAN (AFP)
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