Beijing  - Chinese President Hu Jintao was a busy man on Thursday, not only because of last-minute preparations for talks with US President George W Bush and the opening of the Olympic Games on Friday.

Hu also had to find time for audiences at least a dozen more state leaders and members of royal families.

According to the Chinese government, Hu held separate meetings early Thursday with the presidents of Vietnam, Algeria, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Belarus, Montenegro, Laos, Serbia and Brazil.

He also me Kim Yong Nam, the number two in the Korean Workers' Party, who will represent North Korea in the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium on Friday.

The semi-official China News Service said Hu was scheduled to hold another 70 bilateral meetings with visiting leaders in the five days from Friday.

He was expected to meet Bush, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday - and perhaps others whose names and even nations he would struggle to recall the next day.

More than 80 heads of state and members of royal families will attend the Olympic opening ceremony, with dozens of other top officials taking the total number of diplomatic VIPs to more than 100.

Security staff at Beijing's Capital International Airport were stretched on Thursday by the arrival of a succession of premium guests.

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd were notable arrivals, plus the leaders of Turkmenistan, Andorra, Kazakhstan, Guinea, Slovakia, Kyrgyzstan and the Seychelles.

Rudd attended a flag-raising ceremony held for the Australia team in the Olympic Village later on Thursday.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Israeli President Shimon Peres were other leaders scheduled to join some 91,000 spectators, athletes, officials, volunteers, security staff and journalists on Friday night.

Other nations to be represented at the opening ceremony by their heads of state include Myanmar, Armenia, Gabon and Croatia.

At the ceremony, the proximity to Hu of the visiting leaders will no doubt be decided in accordance with their countries' size, importance to China, and the current warmth of bilateral relations.

Some eyes will be on embattled Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf, whose government on Thursday reversed its earlier statement that he planned to cancel his Beijing trip because of opposition moves to impeach him.

Others will look for signs that Hu might join Bush in watching the Chinese and US teams do battle on the Olympic basketball court on Sunday.

Many global business leaders, reportedly including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, are expected to attend the opening ceremony.

Royal watchers can look out for Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the crown prince of Qatar.

Danish Crown Prince Frederik, Monaco's Prince Albert, Britain's Princess Anne, Spanish Crown Prince Felipe and Belgian Crown Prince Philippe are in Beijing for the opening of the games.

Thai Crown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Norwegian King Harald V and Queen Sonja, and Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander were all on China's guest list.

Among the few Western leaders who will not attend the Beijing ceremonies are German Chancellor Angela Merkel and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Facing allegations of serious human right abuses, Zimbabwen leader Robert Mugabe has reportedly been asked by China to stay at home.

A far smaller group of foreign leaders is scheduled to attend the closing ceremony, led by Finnish President Tarja Halonen, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. (dpa)