Austrian Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel arrived in Beijing late Tuesday night, starting a weeklong official visit to China aimed at promoting political and economic ties.  

Schuessel is scheduled to hold talks with Premier Wen Jiabao and meet with other leaders.

He will also head to south China's island province of Hainan for the annual meeting of Boao Forum for Asia and visit Shanghai and east China's Jiangsu Province.

China and Austria established diplomatic ties in 1971. The trade volume between the two countries exceeded three billion euros (US$3.87 billion) in 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2005)