China, Egypt should consistently facilitate two-way trade, investment, Chinese premier says

CAIRO -- China and Egypt should consistently facilitate two-way trade and investment, strengthen industrial alignment and market connectivity, and push for a higher level of win-win cooperation, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here on Wednesday.

Li made the remarks when meeting with Speaker of the Egyptian House of Representatives Hanafy Ali Gebaly. Li is on an official visit to the Middle East country at the invitation of Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Kamal Madbouly.

Although China and Egypt are geographically distant, the friendship between the two countries has a long-standing history, Li said.

Since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, no matter how the international situation changes, China-Egypt traditional friendship remains unchanged, and the momentum of bilateral relations and cooperation continues to grow, demonstrating strong internal dynamism, he said.

China is willing to further promote traditional friendship with Egypt, enhance political mutual trust, firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns, and continuously elevate bilateral relations to new heights and achieve more new results in bilateral cooperation, so as to better benefit the people of both countries, Li said.

He also called on both sides to maintain friendly exchanges between legislative bodies, strengthen policy communication and share experiences on state governance, and continuously improve mutual understanding.

Noting that China is willing to enhance development alignment with Egypt, Li said both sides should undertake high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and make use of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to improve bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

The two sides should cooperate in the sustainable operation of bilateral landmark projects, continuously improve the level of two-way trade and investment facilitation, strengthen industrial docking and market connectivity, expand cooperation in emerging fields such as digital economy and green development, and promote a higher level of mutual benefit and win-win results, he said.

China is willing to maintain close communication and coordination with Egypt within mechanisms including the United Nations, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, promote all parties to jointly safeguard the basic norms governing international relations and the multilateral trading system, and inject more positive energy into the cause of global peace and development, Li said.

For his part, Gebaly said that Egypt and China, as two great ancient civilizations, share a long history of exchanges and profound friendship between their peoples.

Egypt admires the remarkable achievements China has made in its economic and social development, and firmly believes that under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China will successfully realize Chinese modernization, bringing new opportunities for cooperation between China and other developing countries, Gebaly said.

The Egyptian side adheres to the one-China principle, respects China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and opposes interference in China's internal affairs, he said.

Gebaly said that Egypt stands ready to expand practical cooperation with China under the Belt and Road Initiative framework in areas such as trade, investment and new energy, enhance multilateral coordination, uphold the WTO-centered multilateral trading system, and jointly address global challenges.

The Egyptian House of Representatives is committed to strengthening exchanges and cooperation between the legislative bodies of both countries, he added.