On the afternoon of June 5, 2003, President Hu Jintao returned to Beijing by special plane after his Asian and European tour. Hu paid state visits to Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and attended the third Summit Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States held in Moscow. Hu also attended the celebrations of the tri-centennial anniversary of the establishment of the city of St. Petersburg and the leaders' informal dialogue meeting between the North and the South in Evian, France.

Hu's wife Liu Yongqing, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan and other members of his entourage also returned aboard the same plane.