At the invitation of Australian Governor-General Michael Jeffery and Prime Minister John Howard, Chinese President Hu Jintao left Beijing by special plane on September 3 to pay a state visit to Australia and attend the 15th economic leaders' informal meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Sydney.

Hu's entourage include Wang Gang, the alternate member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Director of General Office of the CPC Central Committee, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Ma Kai, Commerce Minister Bo Xilai, Director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee Wang Huning, Vice Minister of Commerce Yi Xiaozhun, Director of the President's Office Chen Shiju, and Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tian Kang and He Yafei.