Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Minsk Sunday to start an official visit to Belarus at the invitation of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

Wen will hold talks with Lukashenko and meet with acting Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko during his stay in the country.

The two sides will exchange views on bilateral relations, regional and international issues and other issues of common concern, according to a source with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

A number of agreements on bilateral cooperation are expected to be signed during Wen's visit, the source said.

In a written statement delivered at the airport upon his arrival, Wen spoke positively of the growth momentum for bilateral cooperation, noting that the China-Belarus relationship has entered a new stage of all-round development and strategic cooperation.

"I hope my visit to Belarus will help step up the bilateral relations and push the two-way cooperation to a higher level," Wen said.

Wen's visit also coincides with the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

This is the third leg of Wen's four-nation visit.

Wen has already visited Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and attended the sixth Meeting of Prime Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Uzbek capital city of Tashkent.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2007)