(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the Maldives yesterday, making a historic visit to the Indian Ocean tourist destination at the start of a three-nation South Asian tour.
Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen received Xi and his entourage at the international airport, located on a small islet near the capital island Male where an official state welcome awaits him today.
Xi and his wife were taken to the nearby Paradise Island Resort and Spa, a self-contained super-luxury islet, state television said in a live broadcast of the first arrival of a Chinese leader in the archipelago.
The visitors were seen boarding the Maldivian president's official yacht for a 20-minute ride to the exclusive resort whose local name is Lankanfinolhu.
Officials said the Chinese head of state would travel to the capital island Male on Monday morning for a formal welcome that will be followed by talks.
The two men are due to build on their meeting in the Chinese city of Nanjing last month.
Xi is due to travel to neighbouring Sri Lanka on Tuesday and leave Wednesday for his final destination India, the regional superpower.
Maldivian officials said the two sides are expected to discuss Chinese financial support for building a bridge between the congested capital Male and the airport island of Hululle, a distance of about one kilometer.
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