On November 16, 2005, Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Seoul, capital of the ROK, for a state visit and to attend the 13th Leaders' Informal Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to be held in Pusan, ROK.

At about 8:20 am local time, Hu's special plane arrived at the airport in Seoul. Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing were warmly welcomed at the airport by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea Yu Myung-hwan.

Hu delivered a written speech at the airport. He pointed out that the friendship between both peoples goes back to ancient times. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 13 years ago, bilateral cooperation in various areas has been developing rapidly with comprehensive cooperative partnership continuously enriched, which has brought tangible benefits to both peoples and made important contributions to peace and development of this region.

Hu indicated that during this visit, he will hold talks with his ROK counterpart Roh Moo-hyun, meet with ROK National Assembly Speaker Kim One-ki, Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan and other ROK leaders and broadly engage with ROK friends from all walks of life. Both sides will exchange in-depth views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common interest. Hu will also attend the 13th Leaders' Informal Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to be held in Pusan. It is believed that this visit will surely build up bilateral mutual trust, promote mutually beneficial cooperation in various areas and push for continuous development of China-ROK comprehensive cooperative partnership.

Chinese Ambassador to the ROK Ning Fukui and the staff of the Chinese Embassy there also greeted Hu at the airport.

State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan and other companions arrived in the same plane.

Hu arrived in Seoul from Madrid after concluding his state visit to Spain. Hu will go to Pusan, the city in the southeast part of the ROK, on November 17 to attend the 13th Leaders' Informal Meeting of the APEC to be held there.