BEIJING: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi arrived here today for a six-day official visit which will see him meeting with several Chinese officials both in the capital and Kunming.
Accompanied by wife Datin Seri Hamidah Khamis, the deputy prime minister touched down at Beijing Capital International Airport at 4.30pm.
He is here on the invitation of Chinese Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun, Zahid's counterpart here, as home minister.
Immediately upon checking in to his hotel, Zahid's first order of business was a courtesy call on Guo, followed by a dinner hosted by the latter in his honour.
Malaysian ambassador to China Datuk Zainuddin Yahya said the objective of Zahid's visit to China was to strengthen the ties between the two countries, especially in terms of security, crime prevention and regional terrorism.
"This is also to keep up the momentum (of late) of exchange of visits of high-level leaders from both countries, especially in light of the successful visit of Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) to China between Oct 31 ad Nov 5 last year," he told Malaysian media here.
Tomorrow, Zahid will meet Chinese Communist Party Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission Secretary Meng Jianzhu.
On Friday, Zahid flies to Kunming, where he will meet with Yunnan province leaders, including provincial leaders of the Public Security Department. Also, he will meet officials from the Prisons Administrative Bureau, in his capacity as home minister, as the Prisons Department falls under his purview.
Zahid will also be visiting the Narcotics Control Museum in Kunming.
"I was made to understand that the deputy prime minister chose to visit Kunming because there is a lot of drug smuggling going on in the southern part (of China), coming from the (borders in the) south... maybe this is one of the reasons Kunming was chosen," said Zainuddin.