China's Hu heads to Seattle for first stop of key US visit

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2006

SEATTLE, United States (AFP) — Chinese President Hu Jintao will receive a celebrity welcome when he arrives in Seattle at the start of his first official US visit, as the West Coast state of Washington seeks to boost lucrative trade ties with China.

While trade disputes are expected to hover over Hu's four-day US visit, Seattle is expected to give Hu a warm embrace led by Microsoft and Boeing, companies with strong business interests in China.

The 63-year-old leader of the world's most populous country and his wife Liu Yongqing will be wined and dined by the world's richest man, Microsoft's Bill Gates, Tuesday, in a 100-seat dinner hosted by Governor Christine Gregoire.

Prior to that he will be given a tour of Microsoft's Home of the Future.

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