The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, arrives in Beijing on Monday for a five-day official visit to the People's Republic of China, the first ever by an Irish prime minister.
Mr Ahern and his partner, Ms Celia Larkin, will be given an official welcome in Tiananmen Square after the Irish party arrives aboard the Gulfstream-4 government jet.
The high point of the Taoiseach's visit will be a meeting with President Jiang Zemin on Tuesday morning, which is scheduled to go on for almost two hours. The Taoiseach will also visit Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The meeting with President Jiang coincides with a press conference given in Beijing by the former president, Mrs Mary Robinson, who will be completing a nine-day visit to China as UN Commissioner for Human Rights.
Prominent on Mr Ahern's agenda will be trade with China, the world's most populous nation and an emerging economic superpower. He is also expected to lobby Chinese leaders for support for Ireland's application for membership of the UN Security Council in three years' time.
In an echo of the programme organised for President Clinton in June, Mr Ahern will address students at the Chinese Foreign Affairs College and take questions. The Irish party will also call at a village north of Beijing, with an obligatory detour to the Great Wall.
During his address, Mr Ahern will touch on the universality of human rights, but his main theme is expected to be Ireland's place in Europe. Mr Ahern, who is visiting China at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Mr Zhu Rongji, is the first of seven EU prime ministers, including Britain's Mr Tony Blair, to make the long journey to China this autumn.
His progress will be watched closely by other European governments, not least to see if the new positive tone in China's relations with the West set by the visit of Mr Clinton in June will be maintained.
The President of the European Commission, Mr Jacques Santer, will also visit China in October, after a Brussels decision to elevate the EU-China relationship to presidential level.
Mr Ahern is also assured of a warm reception as he will be the first European leader to arrive in Beijing since EU foreign ministers adopted a new policy document on China early in the summer, stressing engagement rather than confrontation.
The revised policy seeks to strengthen political consultation with Beijing and bring the country more fully into global trade.
The Chinese government has welcomed the EU document, Building a Comprehensive Partnership with China, and also the decision to hold annual EU-China summit meetings to strengthen ties between the two sides. The first such meeting took place in London in April, and it was at this meeting that Mr Zhu extended personal invitations to all EU leaders.
The Taoiseach's agenda reflects the priorities outlined in the EU document. These include a substantial political dialogue with China on issues such as human rights, world trade, the future of the UN, disarmament, arms control, drug-trafficking, money-laundering, organised crime and illegal immigration.
Mr Ahern will be accompanied by the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Tom Kitt, and by a 20-member trade delegation, headed by senior officials of Bord Bia, the Trade Board, the Irish Sea Fisheries Board and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation.