On April 26, 2005, President Hu Jintao arrived at Manila, capital of the Philippines, kicking off his state visit to the country with the purpose of pushing the all-round development of friendly cooperative relations between China and the Philippines.

At about 18:40, the special plane of President Hu Jintao arrived at the Manila Aquino International Airport where he and his wife Liu Yongqing were welcomed by Philippine Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo and other officials.

Hu delivered a written speech at the airport, noting that China and the Philippines are friendly neighbors and the traditional friendship between the two peoples dates back to ancient times. Over the past 30 years since the establishment of the diplomatic ties, with the joint efforts of the two countries the bilateral political mutual trust has got strengthened considerably. Bilateral cooperation in various fields of economy and trade, culture and security has achieved fruitful results and the two sides have maintained sound coordination and collaboration in international and regional affairs.

Hu pointed out that to develop the friendly cooperation between China and the Philippines is not only in the fundamental interest of the two countries and their people but also conducive to peace, stability and prosperity in the region. The relations between China and the Philippines are in a new era of all-round development. China expects to work with the Philippines to seize opportunities to raise the bilateral good-neighborly friendship and cooperative relations to high levels.

Hu indicated that he would exchange in-depth views with President Arroyo on strengthening China-Philippines relations and other international and regional issues of common concern and contact widely other Philippine officials and personnel of all sectors of the society in a bid to discuss how to build a brighter future for the bilateral friendly cooperation. He believed this visit will surely push forward bilateral ties.

Secretary General of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee Wang Gang and other Chinese officials arrived at Manila by the same plane.

Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Wu Hongbo and his colleagues in the embassy welcomed Hu at the airport.

Hu arrived at Manila from Jakarta, capital of Indonesia where he attended the Asian-African Summit and the commemorative activities of the Bandung conference and paid a state visit to the country.

The Philippines is the last stop of Hu's visit to three Southeast Asian countries. Prior to visit to Indonesia Hu visited Brunei.