BEIJING, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to visit the United States in April, local media reported Monday, quoting diplomatic sources.
The United States and China have reached a preliminary agreement on Hu's visit to Washington, Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po reported, saying the exact date had not been set.
The official mainland news agency, Xinhua, also published the report Monday.
Hu had planned to visit Washington last September, but his trip was postponed as U.S. President George Bush was preoccupied with the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
Bush renewed the invitation during a trip to Beijing in November.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick arrived in Beijing Monday for talks with Chinese officials, which were expected to include plans for Hu's trip. Zoellick is also expected to work out details for the third China-U.S. strategic dialogue, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Zoellick is credited with coining the term "stakeholders in the international community" to describe the U.S.-China relationship -- a shift from the previous term, "strategic competitors."
Official exchanges between the two countries increased greatly in 2005, with Bush and Hu meeting five times during the year and a stream of high-level U.S. officials visiting China.
