Argentina's Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana is to visit China from Sept. 5 to 8 as the guest of his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday.

During his stay in China, Taiana will meet China's Vice President Xi Jinping and also hold talks with Yang, Jiang said.

Jiang hailed the development of Chinese-Argentina relations since the two states established diplomatic ties in 1972.

"The two sides have maintained high-level exchanges and enhanced mutual political trust during the last 37 years and this visit is expected to further bilateral ties," she said.

China-Argentinian trade in 2008 surged by 45.4 percent year on year to hit 4.4 billion U.S. dollars.

The two countries were keeping up their contacts and coordination on international affairs, Jiang said.

Taiana is also scheduled to visit the northern China port city and economic hub, Tianjin.

(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2009)