BEIJING (THE PHILIPPINE INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK)- China's President Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at the Great Hall of China ahead of bilateral meetings on Thursday (Oct 20) morning.

In a jovial ceremony that started at 10.30am local time and lasted for around 45 minutes, Chinese honour guards welcomed the visiting Philippine head of state with a gun and canon salute.

About a hundred Chinese children waved little flags and flowers for the visiting Philippine President while a military band played.

This is Mr Duterte's very first state visit to China, the fifth country the President has visited since he assumed the presidency in June.

Mr Duterte and his delegation flew in Tuesday night straight from a three-day visit in Brunei Darussalam.

After the pompous welcome ceremonies, Mr Duterte is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Mr Xi, which is expected to be followed by the signing of around eight memoranda of understanding and agreement on various fields of cooperation between the two countries.

Mr Duterte is also set to meet with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to discuss the enhancement of economic cooperation on Thursday afternoon.