BEIJING - Malta President George Abela missed the opening ceremony of the World Expo in Shanghai because of a leg injury, but later had an experience during his stay in China that he says he will remember forever.

The morning of April 30, 12 hours before the opening ceremony of the World Expo, Abela's leg was hurt in an accident. The head of the Mediterranean state was rushed to the city's best Ruijin Hospital.

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"I will not meet President Hu Jintao in a wheelchair," said Abela, lying on a hospital bed in Shanghai, striving to stand up, but failing.

Absent from the opening session held beside the Huangpu River that evening, Abela, who was supposed to be there, watched from his ward the live TV show of the dancing, singing and fireworks.

"I'm not there, but I can feel as the Chinese do," Abela was quoted by a Chinese diplomat as saying.

President Hu, upon hearing about the accident, immediately instructed senior officials of the Chinese Foreign Ministry to visit Abela in hospital.

On May 1, Hu met with six foreign leaders who came to the Chinese economic hub for the first World Expo in a developing country. He repeatedly asked about Abela's situation during the short breaks.

After finishing all the meetings, Hu rushed to Abela's ward, and the two presidents' hands held tight.

"I know that today you are very busy and your coming impressed me very much," Abela said, noting that such a meeting indicated the friendship and mutual respect between China and Malta.

"I was sorry to hear you got hurt yesterday," Hu told Abela, pledging the best medical care for his counterpart, and telling him to rest easy. "You sent a letter of condolence to us after the earthquake in Yushu of Qinghai province, and you came here for the Expo after such a long journey. Now I would like to express my sincere appreciation to you," Hu said.

As the Malta delegation failed to find a charter plane to take their president home, Hu decided to send a special plane for the task.

"I will remember forever the friendship with the Chinese, as well as President Hu and his wife," Abela told senior officials of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Shanghai government at the Hongqiao Airport before leaving.

The plane took off at 8:55 am on May 3 and landed at 4 pm local time at the Malta International Airport, where Abela, accompanied by a Chinese medical group, was received by his colleagues and Chinese ambassador Zhang Keyuan.

"I, on behalf of all the Malta people, invite all the friendly Chinese people to visit my country," Abela, still on a hospital bed, said when he arrived home.

Xinhua