Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (L) meets with Yuan Longping, the world knowned "father of hybrid rice", in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, Oct. 31, 2006. -Xinhua

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf returned to Beijing on Tuesday from Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, for a summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

The summit is scheduled to open on Nov. 4. Forty-eight African countries will send delegations to the summit, of which more than 40 will be headed by their heads of state or government.

The Liberian president arrived in China on Oct. 28 and has already visited Shenzhen, an economically booming city in south China's Guangdong Province, and Changsha.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is paying a state visit to China on the sidelines of the summit of the FOCAC. She will also visit the northern port city of Tianjin and northeastern industrial city of Shenyang.