President Xi Jinping has arrived in San Jose for a state visit to Costa Rica, to promote cooperation between China and the Central American country. Xi Jinping is scheduled to meet his Costa Rican counterpart Laura Chinchilla to discuss the development of bilateral ties. He is also expected to visit a local farmer's family during his stay.

China and Costa Rica established diplomatic ties just six years ago. But two-way trade between the two countries has grown by 120 percent over that time, to exceed 6 billion US dollars last year. Costa Rica is also one of the countries to have signed a Free Trade Agreement with China.

Xi’s visit comes after his state visit to Trinidad and Tobago where the countries signed a host of cooperation deals covering the economy, trade and education. President Xi also met with Surinamese President, Desi Bouterse and Barbadian Prime Minister, Freundel Stuart in Port of Spain. He pledged to work with Suriname and Barbados to expand China's cooperation with the two Caribbean nations.