Putin will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao as well as attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional security grouping involving six Central Asian states.

It is the Russian leader's first visit to China as prime minister, although he visited four times previously as president.

He flew to Beijing from Russky Island, a remote former military base near Vladivostok in Russia's Far East, seven time zones away from Moscow, which is set to host the 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Putin was welcomed at the airport by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, the China News Service reported.

The Russian government said the agreements due to be signed here included one committing each country to notifying the other of the launch of ballistic missiles.

Others in the works include Russian-Chinese trade deals and a memorandum of understanding on developing high-speed train travel on Russian territory, the government said in a statement in Moscow on Sunday.

Relations between Moscow and Bejing have a complicated history, and Russia has been watching China's growing economic and political might with a mixture of awe and uneasiness.

Still, in a message on communist China's 60th birthday on October 1, Putin and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hailed Moscow's "strategic partnership" with Beijing, a term usually reserved for its closest allies and friends.

During Putin's visit, the two nations -- both permanent members of the UN Security Council -- are also expected to coordinate international diplomacy, especially on nuclear issues involving Iran and North Korea.

On Wednesday, he will attend a heads of government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a group dominated by China and Russia that has been touted as a counterweight to Western-led institutions.

Moscow has touted their summit as set to adopt an "important document" on joint efforts to combat the effects of the global financial crisis.

The SCO also includes four ex-Soviet Central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- while India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status.

earlier related report
China asks WTO to rule on trade dispute with EU on fasteners
China on Monday asked the World Trade Organisation to rule on a dispute with the European Union over anti-dumping measures imposed by Brussels on imports of Chinese-made screws and bolts.

"The Chinese government instructed its mission to ... (request the) establishment of a panel to examine the dispute concerning the EC anti-dumping action on imports of fasteners from China," the Chinese mission to the WTO in Geneva said in a statement.

Beijing sought consultations with Brussels on the issue in July but it said their discussions "failed to lead to a satisfactory resolution of the matter."

A European Commission spokesman described Beijing's claim as "unfounded."

He said Brussels had "clear evidence" that Chinese fasteners were illegally dumped in Europe or sold for less than the normal cost in its home market.

The latest development marks an escalation in the dispute following a final European Commission decision in January to impose hefty tariffs on imports of some Chinese steel and iron fasteners, ranging from 26.5 percent to as high as 85 percent.

China is the world's biggest producer of screws, nuts, bolts and washers, while the European Union is its biggest market.

The EU imported 575 million euros (762 million dollars) worth of Chinese fasteners in 2007, according to the Jiaxing Association of Chinese Fastener Producers.

"The Chinese government is determined ... to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese industries and to build up a healthy trading environment," the Chinese mission statement said.

Lutz Guellner, the European Commission's spokesman for trade, said Brussels will "defend the measures in Geneva.

"We regret that China has today asked for a WTO panel on EU anti-dumping measures on fasteners. China's claim that the EU is not fulfilling its obligations under the WTO Agreements is unfounded," he said.

"The decision to impose measures was taken on the basis of clear evidence that dumping of Chinese products has taken place and that this dumping is harming otherwise competitive EU industry," Guellner added.

EU-China trade has exploded in recent years, making the EU the top destination for Chinese exports while China is Europe's biggest trade partner after the United States.

The growth in trade has also brought about several high-profile dispute cases.

Beijing's move on Monday came as the EU announced that it would extend by another 15 months penalty levies on Chinese and Vietnamese shoe imports.

Anti-dumping duties on footwear, essentially fines for exporting goods below production cost, were first applied in October 2006 and have so far cost manufacturers hundreds of millions of euros (dollars).

Other Chinese export sectors, including steel cables and industrial chemicals, have been similarly targeted.

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