ASTANA -- Kazakh fighter jets painted the sky with colored smoke trails as Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev hosted on Wednesday a welcome ceremony for visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A group of six jets, while flying over the presidential palace, left behind them colored smoke trails of red and yellow, colors of the Chinese national flag.

Xi arrived on Tuesday in Astana for a state visit to Kazakhstan, where he will also attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Three Kazakh Air Force fighter jets took off to escort Xi's plane after it entered the country's airspace. Tokayev held a grand welcome ceremony at the airport.