Moroccan girls showered the visiting Chinese President, Mr Jiang Zemin, with rose petals yesterday, in contrast to the protests over his country's human rights record that dogged his European tour.
Thousands of people lined the spacious court at the royal palace in the capital, Rabat, to greet Mr Jiang and King Mohamed, to the sounds of North African trumpets, drums and singing.
Young girls in colourful costumes threw rose petals as white-robed royal servants offered dates and milk in a traditional welcome.
"Long live the king . . . Welcome, welcome to the king's guest," boys and girls sang before the two leaders headed into the ornate palace for a closed meeting attended by their foreign ministers.
Officials said Mr Jiang and King Mohammed signed two economic and technical agreements. Mr Jiang is expected to hold further talks with Morocco's Prime Minister, Mr Abderrahmane El Youssoufi, who last year signed a deal providing Chinese help to build a nuclear plant.
The president arrived on Wednesday for a three-day visit to Morocco, the fourth leg of a sixnation 17-day tour that will also take him to Algeria and Saudi Arabia. In Britain, France and Portugal rights activists denounced him as a dictator, calling for release of political prisoners and independence for Tibet.