Ireland greeted Premier Li Keqiang as if he were on a formal visit rather than just making a stopover, with Enda Kenny, the taoiseach, or prime minister, giving him a hearty welcome on Sunday.

Kenny and his wife, Fionnuala O'Kelly, flew from Dublin to meet Li and his wife, Cheng Hong, in Shannon, a town in the west of the country.

Li was making an overnight stop on his way to Brazil, the first leg of a Latin American tour that will also take him to Colombia, Peru and Chile.