With a view to further strengthen bilateral ties, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has embarked on a 6-day State visit to China today. This visit is the first by an Indian Head of State to China in a decade.<br/><br/>The President will have extensive talks with her counterpart in China, Hu Jintao on several bilateral issues in Beijing tomorrow. She will also meet other Chinese leaders including Chairman of the National People’s Congress Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao. Mrs. Pratibha Patil will dedicate to the Chinese people an Indian-style Buddhist temple at Luoyang. At Shanghai, the President will visit World Exposition, where the Indian pavilion has been a major draw. She will also address growing Indian community in Shaghai besides unveil a statue of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Our correspondent covering President’s visit reports, Mrs. Patil’s visit assumes added importance as it is taking place during the 60th anniversary year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China. She is accompanied by the Food Processing Industries Minister Subodh Kant Sahay and a business delegation.<br/><br/>New Delhi has expressed confidence that the President’s visit will be instrumental in reaffirming and enhancing the long-standing ties of friendship between both the countries.<br/>