Arrival eagerly awaited by local residents

President Xi Jinping's visit to Brunei has been eagerly awaited by local people as they look forward to even closer ties, greater business opportunities and more frequent people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

"On the political level, the visit will further deepen the mutual trust between the two sides. For us, we expect the visit to bring about more economic benefits for the two peoples," said Firdaus Rahman, president of Brunei-China Friendship Association.

Rahman expected the visit to usher in closer people-to-people exchanges between the two nations.

"I hope it will be an opportunity to enable more Chinese people to learn about the Bruneian culture, and also to bring more Chinese cultural elements to Brunei," he said.

China's booming outbound tourism market represents a major opportunity for Brunei, Rahman said, and he hoped the visit can facilitate more Chinese tourists to the country.

The Bruneian capital geared up preparation for the Chinese president's visit on Friday, with Chinese and Bruneian flags being raised along highways Xi's motorcade is expected to pass through, lawns were being mowed and kerbstones repainted outside Istana Nurul Iman, the Bruneian royal palace.

Datin Paduka Magdalene Teo Chee Siong, former Bruneian ambassador to China, said bilateral relations have withstood the test of time.

"I am very pleased that President Xi is coming to Brunei for the first time, because relations between Brunei and China are very close indeed. We have had so many high-level exchanges and good cooperation," she said.

Yang Jianfeng, CEO of Sesame World, a startup specializing in the research and development of directional sound system technology in Bandar Seri Begawan, said he hoped the visit would boost cooperation in science and technology.

"Our company is a result of technological cooperation between China and Brunei, and we want to see more similar results to be generated from cooperation between researchers of the two nations," he said.

Jihan Masri, a taxi driver in Bandar Seri Begaban, said he is hoping the Chinese president's visit will bring about more tangible benefits to people of both nations.

"I can feel that the number of Chinese tourists has been increasing since the start of this year," he said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.