Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived here Thursday on a three-day state visit to Kenya at the invitation of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki. 

In a written statement delivered upon arrival at the airport, Hu said Kenya is an important African country and Sino-Kenyan relations have progressed smoothly in the long past. 

He said the two countries have continuously enhanced their friendship and cooperation in various fields and strengthened consultations and cooperation in international affairs that helped safeguard the common interests of the two countries and the vast majority of developing countries.

He said he is expecting to exchange opinions with Kibaki on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern.

He said he is convinced that this visit will help strengthen bilateral friendship and cooperation. 

China and Kenya set up diplomatic relations in 1963 and bilateral trade volume last year amounted to 475 million U.S. dollars, up 29.7 percent year on year. 

Kenya is the last leg of Hu's five-nation tour, which has taken him to the United States, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Nigeria.