Jiang Zemin takes salty dip

Jiang Zemin enjoys the Dead Sea's therapeutic waters

Chinese President Jiang Zemin took a dip in the Dead Sea on Friday as he continued his visit to Israel.

"It was fantastic," Mr Jiang said as he came out of the salty waters, dressed in a green robe.

Mr Jiang spent 15 minutes in the sea, lounging on his back, surrounded by security guards dressed in bathing suits.

Earlier in the day, a visit to an agricultural project also took an informal style as he inspected a hothouse of fruit grown with salty water wearing a baseball cap and a T-shirt.

During his tour around the Dead Sea area with Israeli President Ezer Weizman, he met farmers and heard about agriculture projects on desert land.

First Chinese visit

The Dead Sea tour offered a welcome respite to a visit which has so far caused controversy.

The first ever visit by a Chinese head of state to Israel has been overshadowed by a controversial deal for Israel to supply China with a sophisticated early-warning radar plane.

The Chinese president was surrounded by bodyguards

Israeli ministers have insisted they will go ahead with the $250m contract despite pressure from the United States, which fears the planes could be used in any future conflict with Taiwan.

Mr Jiang's full six-day long programme includes a visit to the Palestinian territories and Egypt.

Israel's ambassador-designate to Beijing, Yitzhak Shelev, described the occasion as a "historic visit setting the seal on ties between our two countries eight years after the establishment of diplomatic relations".

Israel established diplomatic relations with China in 1992.

Mr Jiang's tour will later take him to Turkey, Greece and South Africa.