Mubarak Meets Xinhua President on Bilateral Ties, Mideast SituationEgyptian President Hosni Mubarak Wednesday met with Tian Congming, president of China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, on bilateral ties and the current situation in the Middle East region.Tian described the meeting as "cordial and friendly", saying it primarily focused on "the Middle East situation and issues of bilateral ties." He told a news conference after the meeting at the presidential palace Itihadiya that the two sides expressed the hope to enhance bilateral relations, adding that he and Mubarak were both optimistic about the prospects of Sino-Egyptian ties. "Both sides also stressed the importance of continuing pushing forward the Middle East peace process," Tian said, emphasizing that "we are both upbeat about the possibility of resolving the Middle East conflict." Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Obeid, Information Minister Safwat el-Sharif and Chinese ambassador An Huihou were at the meeting. Tian arrived here early Monday morning on a four-day visit, at the invitation of Mahfouz el-Ansari, board chairman and chief editor of Egypt's Middle East News Agency (MENA). Tian and el-Ansari inked an agreement on media cooperation between Xinhua and MENA on Monday. Xinhua, founded in 1931, has thus far set up offices in more than 100 countries and established a global communications network. It has cooperative ties with a large number of foreign media organizations. |
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