Beijing: Congress President Sonia Gandhi is set to be the first foreign political party leader to meet the new leadership of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), which will be revealed to the world tomorrow, signalling the importance Beijing is placing on strategic ties with India.

Gandhi, also Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), has been invited by the Chinese President and incumbent CPC General Secretary, Hu Jintao, for a visit aimed at strengthening Sino-Indian strategic ties as well as party-to-party relations.

She is expected to arrive here on October 25 for a visit that is likely to last till October 30, meeting Hu and other senior Chinese leaders and visiting Beijing and probably two other Chinese cities, sources told PTI here.

Hu is expected to accord a red carpet welcome to Gandhi and brief her on the outcome of the just-concluded 17th Party Congress of the CPC, which he has described as "one of vital importance being held at a crucial state of China's reform and development."

Hu, 64, is expected to be re-elected party boss for another five-year term tomorrow when the newly-elected 17th Central Committee of the CPC meets here to decide on the new generation of Chinese leaders who will guide the booming nation till 2012.

The new Central Committee that would elect the new Chinese leadership was formed today after the week-long conclave of the CPC ended here, enshrining into the Party's Constitution Hu's concept of "Scientific Outlook on Development," advocating sustainable growth.