BEIJING, Oct 10 (AFP) - China on Thursday announced the dates for President Jiang Zemin's long-planned trip to the United States this month, saying he would be in the country from October 22 to 25.
Jiang is due to hold talks with President George W. Bush on the US leader's Texas ranch during the trip, which will see them meet for the third time in 12 months.
Immediately afterwards he will attend the summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Mexico on October 26 and 27, foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said.
The trip could be a swansong on the global stage for 76-year-old Jiang, who is tipped to step down from power at a national congress of the ruling Communist Party which begins on November 8.
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Zhang released few details on the trip and declined to discuss what issues Jiang might discuss with Bush.
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Sino-US relations underwent a difficult period after Bush took office in January 2001, hitting a low point three months later when a collision between a US surveillance plane and a US fighter jet sparked a major row.
Ties have improved since Beijing broadly supported the US-led military response to the terrorist attacks of September 11 that year, although there are still tensions over issues such as US arms sales to Taiwan.
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The latest trip, which follows meetings between Jiang and Bush at last year's APEC summit in Shanghai and Bush's visit to Beijing in February, will "surely have positive results", she said.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/df/Qchina-us-jiang.RVjg_COA.html
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