British Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh arrived in Maputo on November 15 for an official visit on the invitation of Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano.

This is the first time that the queen set her foot on the African country since Mozambique became a Commonwealth member at the end of 1995.

During her one-day visit, the queen will exchange views with Chissano on clashes between the Southern African Development Community members, Mozambique's political and economic situations as well as the general elections scheduled for December 3-4 in the African country.

The queen and Chissano will also jointly open the Partnership Week of Mozambique and the United Kingdom, during which the entrepreneurs of the two countries will discuss their cooperation in the fields of industry, education, agriculture and financial business.

It is reported that Britain has provided a total of 33.2 million US dollars to Mozambique since the beginning of this year to help support its education, health and development plans.