Queen Elizabeth II arrived here today for a six-day state visit, the first ever by a reigning British monarch.
Her trip signifies both countries' acceptance that sovereignty over Hong Kong will be transferred from Britain to China in 1997. The Hong Kong agreement was signed in 1984.
Diplomats said the queen was first invited to visit China several years ago, but both sides preferred to wait until the Hong Kong issue was resolved.
Both sides also hope the visit will boost Sino-British trade, which stood at roughly $ 1 billion in 1985, or less than one-sixth of U.S.-China trade. To capitalize on her presence, the visit of a high-level British business delegation will coincide with the queen's trip to Shanghai.
Meeting the queen on the tarmac were Chinese Foreign Minister Wu Xueqian and several of his deputies. Also on hand were about two dozen officials of the British Embassy in Peking and scores of journalists.
In a "Profile of England's Queen," the official People's Daily today described the queen as hard-working, brave and thrifty. Although "England's richest person," the queen likes to save electricity, the article said, by turning off lights around Buckingham Palace when they are not in use.
Several Chinese expressed positive feelings about the British monarch. "We have a warm feeling about her," said one middle-aged woman in Peking's Tiananmen Square. "She solved the Hong Kong problem." The woman went on to identify the queen as "Thatcher -- she is Thatcher, right?"