Chinese President Hu Jintao left Beijing by special plane on June 9 for the 10th Meeting of the Council of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Heads of States scheduled for June 10-11 in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent. Hu will also pay state visits to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan at the invitation of Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev respectively.
Hu’s entourage included Ling Jihua, member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, Wang Huning, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission Zhang Ping, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming, Vice Minister of the State Development and Reform Commission and Director General of National Energy Bureau Zhang Guobao, Director of the President's Office Chen Shiju and Assistant Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping.