Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will make his first public appearance in an international arena as a representative of the party by leading a delegation to the opening ceremony of the Beijing [Images] Olympic Games.

Bilawal, 19, reached Beijing on Thursday as the head of the PPP delegation, invited by the Chinese Communist Party to the inauguration of the Olympics [Images] on Friday.

                                  Bhutto's son Bilawal named PPP chairperson

Earlier, his father, PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari, was to lead the delegation but he changed his plans due to the coalition's move to impeach President Pervez Musharraf [Images].

On his arrival at the airport in Beijing, Bilawal was received by the head of the International Cooperation Department of the CPC and charge d'Affaires and other officers of the Pakistan Embassy.

                                  Bilawal regrets not playing cricket in Pakistan

The PPP delegation includes Bilawal's sisters Bakhtawar and Asifa. A statement issued by the PPP said Bilawal would be accorded the same protocol during his stay in Beijing as that given to heads of states and governments.

Bilawal has also been invited to a banquet hosted by Chinese President Hu Jintao for heads of states and governments.

                                          Coverage: Olympics 2008

A senior politburo member of the CPC will meet Bilawal and host a dinner for him at the Great Hall of the People. The Minister of the International Department of the CPC and Vice-Minister will call on Bilawal and host a banquet in his honour. Bilawal will leave Beijing on August 11.

Bilawal was appointed PPP chairman after the assassination of his mother former premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] last year. He is currently completing his studies at Oxford.

                                        Coverage: Benazir Bhutto assassinated

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani [Images] left for Beijing to represent Pakistan in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.