Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao on Wednesday visited the Ajanta caves in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, at the start of his five-day official visit to India.
Li, who arrived in Aurangabad on Tuesday evening, is slated to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
Aurangabad Mayor T.G. Tupe along with municipal commissioner Prakash Mahajan and other civic officials made a courtesy call on the visiting dignitary in the afternoon at the hotel where he is staying.
Aurangabad is exploring means to strengthen bilateral ties with the Chinese city of Duo-Hong in Gansu province from where a five-member delegation visited the Maharashtra city in March.
In close proximity to the two Unesco World Heritage sites of Ajanta and Ellora caves, Aurangabad receives a large number of Chinese tourists, who also visit Bodh Gaya and other centres of interest for Buddhists.
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The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation has been promoting Ajanta and Ellora caves in China in a bid to attract more tourists from that country.
Officials said Li will reach Kolkota on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, he will meet Banerjee and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.
The Chinese vice president will also visit Jorasanko Thakurbari, the ancestral house of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
On Friday, Li will be in the national capital and meet Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Modi.
India and China will sign several MoUs after talks between Li and Ansari. The Chinese leader will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee.
Li will attend a business dinner hosted by Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs on Friday.
The Chinese leader will visit Humayun's tomb and the National Museum on Saturday before leaving for Beijing.
There have been many high-level visits between India and China over a year.
Ansari paid a visit to China in June 2014. Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to India in September last year and Modi visited China in May this year.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also visited China in February this year.
The trade and economic relationship has seen rapid progress in the last few years. The India-China bilateral trade which was as low as $2.92 billion in 2000 stood at $70.65 billion in 2014.
