SHANGHAI, May 30 (Xinhua) -- President of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koroma left Shanghai on Saturday, wrapping up his weeklong China tour.

    This was his first state visit to China since assuming presidency in September 2007.

    In Shanghai, Koroma was told by local leaders how the country's financial hub was preparing for the World Exposition in 2010. He visited a steel giant, a local urban planning museum and some tourist attractions.

    Earlier, during Koroma's stay in Beijing, Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders met with him.

    Koroma also traveled to central China's Hunan Province. He visited the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center led by Father of Hybrid Rice Yuan Longping, who successfully altered the self-pollinating characteristic of rice and realized large-scale farming of hybrid rice.