Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived Monday (local time) in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, for a state visit. The following are some facts and figures about his visit.

-- China and Mauritius forged diplomatic ties on April 15, 1972. The two countries have since then carried out fruitful cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, culture, education and tourism.

-- In the first 10 months of 2008, two-way trade reached 280 million U.S. dollars, a 19.9-percent increase from a year earlier, according to official statistics.

-- Mauritius was first explored by the Portuguese and subsequently was held by the Dutch, French and British before independence was attained on March 12, 1968. It became a republic on March 12, 1992.

-- Covering an area of about 2,040 square km, Mauritius has a population of 1,257,000.

-- Mauritius is the last leg of Hu's week-long "journey of friendship and cooperation," which has taken him to Saudi Arabia, Mali, Senegal and Tanzania. The president is flying home on Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua