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China, Egypt pledge stronger ties

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-14 21:55

CAIRO -- He Guoqiang, China's anti-graft chief, on Sunday met here with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, pledging to seek stronger bilateral ties.

He, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, first extended the cordial greetings of Chinese President Hu Jintao to 81-year-old Mubarak.

He hailed Mubarak as "a respected old and good friend" of the Chinese people for he made great contribution to the development of bilateral ties.

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In their hour-long talks at the Presidential Palace, He reviewed the growth of bilateral ties. Back in 1956, Egypt was the earliest Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with China. Ten years ago, Egypt took the lead among Arab and African nations in forging strategic cooperation with China.

"The CPC and the Chinese government would like to take the 10th anniversary of strategic cooperation as an opportunity to maintain high-level exchanges, enhance political trust, bolster substantial cooperation for a stronger growth of bilateral ties," said He, also secretary of the CPC's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He lauded Egypt's efforts to promote China-Arab Cooperation Forum and China-Africa Cooperation Forum, saying that China supported Egypt to play a bigger role in international and regional issues.

As Egypt will host the fourth ministerial meeting of China- Africa Cooperation Forum later this year, He said China and Egypt should work more closely to make the meeting a success.

He said China would like to increase contacts and coordination with Egypt and other members of the forum for a better China- Africa relationship.

Mubarak said Egypt and China, both of which were countries with long histories and great civilizations, enjoyed a solid foundation in cooperation in various fields.

The Egyptian president also said more and more Chinese businessmen invested in Egypt in recent years, which injected a new vitality into bilateral relations. He called for stronger bilateral cooperation under the new situation.

Mubarak, also chairman of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party, spoke highly of China's development path, saying the mode fits China's reality.

Furthermore, Mubarak appealed for the ruling parties of both countries to learn from each other on how to run the government.

Mubarak, who has visited China nine times, said he cherished deep and solid friendship with Chinese people and leaders and was looking forward to visiting China again.

China's anti-graft chief arrived in Cairo on Saturday for a three-day goodwill tour, which will also take him to Spain, Jordan and Mongolia.

Late on Saturday, He went to the suburbs of Cairo to visit assembling lines of vehicles, a cooperative project between Chinese car manufacturer Chery and an Egyptian car company.