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Egyptian Deputy PM Meets with Chinese Vice Premier
Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali held talks on November 19 with visiting Chinese Vice Premier Wu Bangguo on bilateral relations and situation in the Middle East.
During the meeting, Wu said the friendly and cooperative relations between China and Egypt have developed smoothly since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1956.
Wu said President Hosni Mubarak made a successful visit to China last year, during which he and President Jiang Zemin signed a joint communique on the establishment of the Sino-Egyptian strategic cooperative relations in the 21st century.
Jiang met again with Mubarak in Egypt's Mediterranean port city of Alexandria last April, promoting bilateral relations to a new phase, Wu said.
He stressed that China cherishes the time-honored, friendly and cooperative relations with Egypt, and expected the two sides to make joint efforts to substantiate the strategic cooperative relations and explore ways to expand cooperation in various fields.
Wu said that China considers Egypt as the most important partner in the Arab world and Africa, adding that China is the biggest developing nation while Africa is the continent which has most developing countries.
At the turn of the century, both China and Africa are facing historical opportunities of development and unprecedented challenges, Wu said, voicing his hope that China and Egypt will join efforts to push for the overall development of the Sino- African relations, which will promote the South-South cooperation and the shaping of a new international political and economic order of justice and rationality.
He spoke highly of the great achievements the Egyptian government and people have made under the leadership of Mubarak, saying that the two countries have big potentials to augment bilateral economic cooperation and trade, an important part of the strategic cooperative relations.
Wu accused Israel's excessive use of force against unarmed Palestinians and called for solving the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli clashes through peace talks, reiterating China's supports for Egypt's stance on realizing just and durable peace in the Middle East.
On his part, Wali stressed the importance of upgrading bilateral relations, saying that Mubarak is keen on promoting the Egyptian- Chinese ties in all fields.
The Egyptian deputy prime minister highlighted bright prospects for furthering bilateral trade and economic cooperation, especially in the fields of agriculture and oil.
He voiced his belief that Wu's visit will help deepen the bilateral strategic cooperative relations established by the presidents of the two countries.
Earlier in the day, Mubarak met with Wu at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh, exchanging views on bilateral relations.
Wu arrived in Cairo on Saturday after a three-day trip in Sudan. He will travel to Kuwait after wrapping up the visit to Egypt.
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