President Patil's visit fruitful and successful: China

BEIJING: China today termed the just concluded visit of President Pratibha Patil here as a "fruitful and successful" one, saying it would "definitely" help promote development of bilateral ties between the two Asian giants.

"I believe it was a fruitful and successful visit," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said at a media briefing today when asked about the Chinese assessment of President Patil's six-day state visit, first by Indian head of state in a decade.

Ma said Patil held talks with Chinese leaders on major issues relating to both the countries and exchanged views.

"They (Patil and Chinese leaders) reached consensus on many major issues. I believe the visit will definitely promote further development of relations between the two countries," he said.

During her visit starting from May 26, Patil spent three days in Beijing during which she held talks with her Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on a host of issues.

She later flew to Loyang where she dedicated the first Indian-styled Buddhist temple in China built close to the famous White Horse temple complex there.

She later flew to China's commercial hub Shanghai where she visited Indian and Chinese pavilions at Shanghai Expo and unveiled a bust of poet Rabindranath Tagore at a street in Shanghai commemorating his visit to the city.