Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs Aly
Houssam el-Hefny has hailed that President Hosni Mubarak's recent
visit to China opens new vistas for strategic cooperation between
the two sides, the official MENA news agency reported Sunday.
In an interview with MENA, Hefny asserted the Egyptian
leadership's keenness to continue to play a pivotal role on the
international arena at the political and economic levels, along
with cooperation with China, one of the five permanent members of
the UN Security Council.
Mubarak arrived in Beijing on November 3 and attended the
two-day Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation,
which is seen as an important conference to promote a new
Sino-African strategic partnership and strengthen the cooperation
between China and Africa.
Following the Beijing Summit, Mubarak also made a state visit to
China.
Hefny, who served as Egypt's ambassador to China from September
2001 till August 2005, said Mubarak's ninth visit to China during
November 3-7 aimed at striking a balance in Egypt's foreign
relations.
Mubarak's visit was also meant to activate the Egyptian
partnership with China while taking into consideration the 1999
agreement signed between the two countries on establishing
Egyptian-Chinese strategic cooperative ties.
He further underlined the importance of the timing of Mubarak's
visit to Beijing in light of the assertive steps adopted to proceed
with the economic reform process in Egypt.
The two sides also probed means to overcome obstacles to the
Sino-Egyptian cooperation, Hefny said, adding that a raft of
agreements on fostering cooperation have been signed between the
two countries.
Hefny also deemed China as a strong partner to Africa, saying
this year marked 50th anniversary of China-Africa diplomatic ties.
He also disclosed that senior Egyptian officials are expected to
visit China in November and December to give a thrust to
Sino-Egyptian cooperation.
Among the Egyptian officials are Tourism Minister Zuheir Garana,
Communications and Information Technology Minister Tarek Kamel and
Minister of State for Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish.
During their visits to China, a new raft of agreements and
memorandums of understanding will be inked between the two
countries, added Hefny.
China and Egypt officially declared the establishment of
diplomatic ties on May 30, 1956, which made Egypt the first Arab
and African country to forge diplomatic relations with China.
In 1999, Egypt and China signed a joint communiqué, declaring
the goal to establish Egypt-China strategic cooperative
relations.
In June 2006 when Premier Wen Jiabao visited Egypt, the two
nations signed an implementation outline for deepening strategic
and cooperative relations, in which the two nations agreed to set
up strategic dialogue mechanism between their foreign
ministers.
(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2006)
