Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived Sunday for a state visit to the Maldives, the first of its kind since the two countries established diplomatic ties 42 years ago.

During his trip, Xi will hold talks with Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen. It will be the second meeting between the two presidents within one month.

On August 16, they met in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, before attending the opening ceremony of the second Summer Youth Olympic Games.

During his stay in Male, Xi will also meet with Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, speaker of the People's Majlis, the legislative body of the Maldives.

A series of cooperation agreements are expected to be signed between the two countries during Xi's visit, which Chinese assistant foreign minister Liu Jianchao commented is of "epoch-making significance" for China-Maldives ties.

Over the past 42 years, bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade and tourism has grown steadily, and China has been the Maldives' top source of overseas tourists for the past four years.

Before Xi's arrival in the Maldives, he attended the 14th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and paid a state visit to Tajikistan.

Xi suggested the SCO members launch consultations on an anti-extremism convention and initiate studies on a mechanism for actions against Internet terrorism.

Among the major outcomes of the summit, leaders of SCO members signed the Dushanbe Declaration and ratified two documents that define the basic principles of membership enlargement.

During Xi's state visit to Tajikistan, the two sides passed a five-year development plan for China-Tajikistan strategic partnership. Xi and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon also attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Tajikistan section of Line D of the Central Asia-China gas pipelines.

After Tajikistan and the Maldives, Xi will also visit Sri Lanka and India on his four-nation Asia tour.