KHARTOUM, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao ended his state visit to Sudan on Saturday and left the country's capital of Khartoum for Lusaka, Zambia, to continue his eight-nation tour of Africa.

    During his stay in Khartoum, President Hu held talks with his Sudanese counterpart Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir on deepening friendly cooperation between the two countries.

    The two leaders also exchanged views on important regional and international issues.

    The relationship between China and Sudan has developed steadily since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1959. President Al-Bashir has visited China twice.

    During Hu's visit, the two leaders also attended the signing ceremony of seven documents on economic and technological cooperation.

    In recent years, trade between China and Sudan has increased rapidly. bilateral trade volume reached 2.9 billion U.S. dollars between January and November in 2006, and Sudan has become China's third largest trading partner in Africa.

    Mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries has also expanded into various sectors, including construction, agriculture, culture, health and education.

    Sudan is the third leg of Hu's eight-nation tour after Cameroon and Liberia. He will also visit Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and Seychelles.