The Chinese President, Hu Jintao, is to make a state visit to Ireland next year.
At a meeting with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Beijing today, President Hu accepted an invitation which had previously been extended by President Mary McAleese.
He will be the second Chinese head of state to visit Ireland.
It comes as Mr Ahern continues a week-long trade mission in China.
This morning, the Taoiseach predicted that the €4 billion a year trade between Ireland and China could double in the next three to five years.
After attending the signing of 15 new contracts and agreements between Irish and Chinese companies in Beijing this morning, Mr Ahern was upbeat about the prospects for increasing trade between the two countries.
However, the Government is anxious to redress the balance of the €4 billion a year trade.
At the moment, four-fifths of it is made up of Chinese goods sold to Ireland, with only one-fifth going the other way.
Education agreement
One area of potential growth is in education. Today, the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, signed an agreement with her Chinese counterpart, Zhou Ji, which will lead to mutual recognition of qualifications.
This will make exchanges of students and staff easier.
However, Ms Hanafin pointed out that despite the potential of the market, Chinese is not generally taught in Irish third-level institutions.
She said she would invite proposals through the Higher Education Authority to teach the language.
