Sino-Egyptian Ties to be Enhanced: Xinhua PresidentTian Congming, president of China's state-run Xinhua, expressed his belief on Thursday that Sino-Egyptian relations will be further enhanced and Egypt will achieve a rapid economic growth."I am confident that relations between China and Egypt will develop further, especially in the field of economy," Tian said in an interview with Egypt's Middle East News Agency (MENA) when visiting the Media Production Center in the capital of Cairo. Lauding Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as a "statesman who has great influence in the Middle East and Africa," Tian said that " President Mubarak is doing his utmost to push forward the Mideast peace process, and adopts a clear-cut stance in this respect." Tian said that his interview with Mubarak on Wednesday "has drawn attention of all parties concerned as Mubarak has influence on the peacemaking and the right to speak about it." During Wednesday's interview with Tian, Mubarak criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for dragging the peace process into stalemate, saying that a regional peace can not be achieved as long as Sharon stays in power. "Frankly speaking, there is no solution (to the Middle East conflict) with Sharon (in power)," Mubarak told Tian. Tian arrived here Monday on a four-day visit, at the invitation of Mahfouz el-Ansari, board chairman and chief editor of MENA. During his stay here, Tian and el-Ansari inked an agreement on media cooperation between Xinhua and MENA on Monday. In addition, Tian met with Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Obeid and Information Minister Safwat el-Sharif on Sino-Egyptian ties and other issues of common concern. 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. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |