President Xi Jinping paid a visit to the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture in Jilin province, where he spent time talking with local people, and experiencing local culture, on July 16, Xinhua has reported.

Xi arrived at Yanji Chaoyangchuan Airport, at noon, and went directly to the Yanbian Museum to hear a report on local government development and visited exhibitions on Yanbian history and Sino-Korean folk culture.

President Xi visits the Yanbian Museum, in the company of Bayinchaolu (L), the Party chief of Jilin, on July 16. [Photo by Ju Peng and Xie Huanchi/Xinhua]

Local people welcome President Xi to Yanbian Korean prefecture on July 16. [Photo by Ju Peng and Xie Huanchi/Xinhua]

Next he visited a village near the Hailanjiang River, crossing a large rice paddy to get there, the largest rice growing base in the region, which is called the"Oasis of Yanbian". Xi went out into the field to talk with the farmers and gave his best wishes for a good harvest. He said that stable grain production is the central government's goal and he encouraged the farmers to develop their own brands and sell their products to more places.

The president in a rice paddy field near the Hailanjiang River, on July 16 [Photo by Ju Peng and Xie Huanchi/Xinhua]

He also visited the village arts center and saw a Korean performance by elderly people who danced to a famous song of Sino-Korean culture, which Xi said he had heard many years before.

One villager, Li Longzhi, invited the president to his home, a typical Sino-Korean residence where Xi had his first encounter with the ethnic group's daily life. He noted how there is more modern agriculture in the area, but that its infrastructure needs more attention and he gave his suggestions on urban infrastructure in the rural area.

Inside of a Sino-Korean residence in Yanbian, on July 16 [Photo by Ju Peng and Xie Huanchi/Xinhua]

Xi then got a look at some key enterprises and industrial development in the area.

The idea for the trip came 4 months ago when the president met with a Jilin delegation during the 12th National People's Congress, where Li Jinghao, the head of the prefecture invited him for a visit and the president promised that if he had time, he would chose Yanbian as his first stop.

The region is China's largest Sino-Korean community, with a population of 2.15 million, and sits on the border with Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, so it is important for national economic development, a window on other countries, and a place with good environment and resources. It has a forest coverage of 80.8 percent, and its Changbai Mountain area is a natural forest area, with Chinese medicinal herbs, ginseng, edible fungus, rice and a large number of agricultural products.