BEIJING - Chinese President Hu Jintao left Beijing Sunday morning to pay state visits to Kazakstan, Russia and Ukraine, and attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana and an economic forum in St Petersburg.

Related readings: Hu attends SCO summit

Hu is making the visits from June 12 to 20 at the invitation of Kazakstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said earlier in a statement.

During his visits, the Chinese president will attend the annual summit of the SCO in the Kazakh capital of Astana and the 15th International Economic Forum in St Petersburg.

The Astana summit will mark the 10th anniversary of the SCO's founding on Wednesday, which was established in Shanghai in 2001. The regional organization groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.