19-gun welcome for Blair in China

Prime Minister Tony Blair was formally welcomed to China today with a 19-gun salute and a military guard of honour at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Mr Blair inspected the troops lined up in the vast Tiananmen Square accompanied by his Chinese counterpart Premier Wen Jiabao.

The spectacular welcoming ceremony in the hazy Beijing morning followed a round of engagements in the Chinese capital for Mr Blair and his wife Cherie on the latest leg of his round-the-world diplomatic marathon.

Mr Blair was due to spend the rest of the day in private talks with local political leaders including Prime Minister Wen and President Hu Jintao.

During a break in talks with Premier Wen Mr Blair said: "The relationship between Britain and China has strengthened enormously over these past few years and I have got no doubt at all it will continue to strengthen still further both in the economic field and also in the political field as well where we are working together to solve some of the critical issues that face our world."

Speaking to Prime Minister Wen, Mr Blair added: "I think the discussions we have just had were an indication of just how open and frank we are able to be across a range of issues."

Earlier, he had performed the opening ceremony at the new British Centre, home of the UK Chambers of Commerce, telling business leaders: "The possibilities here are absolutely enormous."

He added: "The Chinese market is going to be a huge opportunity."

Mr Blair then went on to open a new bureau of the Department for International Development where he and Mrs Blair chatted to beneficiaries of British aid projects.

He spoke to a family from Sichuan province whose lives have been blighted by HIV/Aids and was told that where once they were shunned, people now "invite them to play mahjong" because they had been educated about the true facts of the disease.

Mr and Mrs Blair also met youngsters from Gansu province who were taking part in a government-aided literacy programme.

He joked: "These young people from Gansu province took two days to get here, so I've almost got here quicker myself."

Mr and Mrs Blair are spending tonight in Beijing before travelling on to Shanghai.