I. Continuous development of Sino-Egyptian Scientific and Technological Cooperation (SESTC)

II. 1990s' bilateral visits of high-ranking officials in science and technology

III. The framework of Sino-Egyptian bilateral STC

IV. The bilateral STC between the government ministries

V. Other Cooperative Activities





The cooperation in science and technology between China and Egypt started in mid 1960s, and up to now it has spent over 30 years with a various activities in a wide range of scientific fields in the principle of equal and mutual benefit.

I. Continuous development of Sino-Egyptian Scientific and Technological Cooperation (SESTC)

It might be divided into three phases when we see the whole process of SESTC, which would be regarded as the period of the early-contact, initiated practice and sustained cooperation.

The first phase as saying early-contact period was from 1965 to 1975. A Chinese delegation led by Mr. Wu Heng, the Vice President of the State Science and Technology Commission of China, visited in Egypt in Jan 23, 1965, and as a representative of the Chinese government, Mr. Wu Heng singed an agreement on scientific and cultural cooperation between the two sides. Under the agreement there are total 8 joint projects decided in mainly exchanging information and crop varieties. The executive institution in Chinese side was the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) which is even now the largest R&D body in China.

The second phase was from 1976 to 1982. A protocol on Scientific and Technological Cooperation was signed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology of Egypt, which got involved in joint research projects, personnel exchange and sharing expertise and scientific information. The Chinese side made up a 3-year program which included biological studies on animals and insects in desert areas, remote-sensing technology used in desert land, herbal plant studies on its medical use, the ecological impact by the public work and infrastructure of water to the aqua-organism and so on. At meanwhile, some of Egyptian experts were invited to lecturing in China as well.

During the period of implementation of the program, the two sides were satisfied with the results from the cooperative activities, which were completed by joint efforts of the two sides and congruously thought to be effective and valuable for both.

From 1983 up to now, it was regarded as the third phase of the cooperation. In April 1983, during H.E. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak visited China, the two sides renewed the protocol on STC, which would be a milestone on the process of the cooperation. It was significant to confirm that the two countries would make efforts to built up a stable link and keep continuous support in STC such as sending the professionals to learn and share the experiences from each other, carrying out study and practice in scientific fields, inviting the experts from each other to transfer technology and expertise, providing each other scientific information and experimental seeds, plant seedlings, scientific samples, and others.

Therefore, the protocol now is still a basis for scientific and technological cooperation on the governmental level between China and Egypt, and it is also a symbol of the development of STC with joint efforts of the two sides towards a new era.

Three years after the signing of the protocol on STC, a Joint Committee was established with the Chinese and Egyptian government officials and held its first meeting in Cairo in 1987. With reviewing the previous collaboration, the two sides signed an acting agreement which was inclusive of 15 joint projects.

After that, the second meeting of the Joint Committee held in Beijing in 1991, over which about 15 projects were discussed and confirmed to be practical activities during the next period. One thing needs to be mentioned that time is that the technical exchange and technology transfer was emphasized by the two sides as a significant matter. Up to 1998, when the third meeting was held in Cairo again, 16 proposed projects were attached with the agreement and other 20 additional projects in standby.

In general, STC between China and Egypt has been keeping its pace going smoothly and continuously for more than 20 years. As the two developing countries with their long history and resplendent accumulation of the ancient civilization, the two sides now are, and later will be, facing a huge challenge of economic globalization and high-tech development when entering 21st century. In this situation, cooperation in science and technology between the two sides would be still having a great potential and a large space in various aspects such as scientific studies, technological innovation, development of human resources, update of agriculture and industries, etc. No doubt, people will see a further strengthening and development in STC between the two countries in the future.



II. 1990s'bilateral visits of high-ranking officials in science and technology

The links in science and technology between the two countries developed much through the bilateral visits of high-ranking officials in 1990s.

A delegation from the State Science and Technology Commission of China (SSTCC) visited in Egypt in July 1990. An introduction on the policy of reform in China and the progress in science and technology, attracted the attention of the Egyptian guests. Then in April 1992, an Egyptian senior delegation, led by the Minister of State for Scientific Research, visited China. The Egyptian delegates expressed their interests on the China's achievements in science and technology during its reform, and some of them highly praised the measures to promote the science and technology widely used in agriculture and rural areas such as carrying out the Spark Program, encouraging innovation of the private sector and the development of SMEs, etc.

In March 1993, Ms Deng Nan, the Vice-Minister of SSTCC, led a visit by a Chinese delegation to Egypt. During her stay in Egypt, the two parties, the SSTCC and the Ministry of State for Scientific Research of Egypt, signed an agreement on STC and a document on a 3-million RMB donation provided by Chinese side for the construction of Mubarak City for Scientific Research & Technology Applications.

Another Chinese delegation led by Ms. Zhu Lilan, acting Vice-Minister of SSTCC, paid a visit to Egypt in March 1997. The two sides exchanged the viewpoints on strengthening cooperation in science and technology, and discussed the interested fields for further collaboration. Some of the proposed topics were mentioned as study on the extraction of rare metals, processing technology for contaminated water to Nile river, technology for artificial textile production, applied technology in aquaculture, remote-sensing technology used in desert survey, electro-optical irrigation system used in remote areas, soft ware development, scientific program and its management, etc.

An important thing in April 1997 was, Egyptian Prime Minister Dr. Kmaal A. El-Ganzouri, leading a delegation with high-ranking officials, visited China and paid much concern on STC between the two countries. During the time, Ms. Zhu Lilan, Vice-Minister of SSTCC and Dr. Mahmoud S. A. Sherif, Minister of Rural Development of Egypt, as the government representatives of the two parties, signed an agreement on Cooperation of Chinese Spark Program and Egyptian Shrouk Program, which later promoted a cooperation in appropriate technology between the two sides.

In April 1998, a Chinese delegation led by Mr. Han Deqian, the Vice-Minister of Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST now, former SSTCC), came to Cairo to participate the third meeting of the Joint Committee. The agreement on STC was signed in the meeting with roughly 48 proposed projects listed, which means another period of 3 or 4 years for the cooperation started.



III. The framework of Sino-Egyptian bilateral STC

As above mentioned, a protocol on scientific and technological cooperation between the Chinese and Egyptian government was signed in Jan. 1965, and later in April 1983, a renewed protocol was signed by the two parties during Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak visited China. Under this protocol, a Joint Committee was established for reviewing and discussing the progress of STC and adding new projects in the next period, which usually works through periodical meeting.

As the relevant work, some agreements were signed on the ministerial level between the two countries, which we would call as ministry-to-ministry cooperation such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Water Resources, and scientific institutions in both sides, etc. This kind of agreements is signed as the executive document with some projects, so it was not only the supplement to the above-mentioned protocol but a reinforcement of the collaboration in specific professional areas as well. Therefore, a Protocol on the nation level, a Joint Committee, and some ministerial agreements formed the basic framework of the bilateral STC between China and Egypt.

Up to now the two sides have held three meetings of Joint Committee partly in 1987, 1991 and 1998. The fourth one would be held in May 2002 in Beijing according to an earlier discussion. Since 1980s, both sides have signed 4 ministerial agreements, under which, some of the projects now are still on going.



IV. The bilateral STC among the government ministries

As to the STC at ministerial level between the two countries, people could see it as follows:

1. Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) to the Ministry of State for Scientific Research (MSSR) of Egypt and others. There are two agreements among them. One was signed in March 1993 by the MOST and the MSSR with 5 projects mainly on scientific study. Another was signed by the MOST and the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) of Egypt titled "the agreement on cooperation of Chinese Spark Program and Egyptian Shrouk Program", which was aimed at promoting so called appropriate-technology cooperation in the rural areas between the two countries. Some of the projects under this agreement carried out in Egypt by the assistance of Chinese experts such as the demonstration project on bio-gas for family use, experimental project on sericulture, etc. The Chinese experts also made a study visit on honey-bee feeding in Egypt that time as a preparation for a proposed project.

2. The Ministry of Agriculture of China (MAC) to the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR) of Egypt and others. The agreement signed by MAC and MALR of Egypt showed a long-time collaboration in agriculture between the two parties, which started in 1978 at beginning and renewed several times during the period of 1979 to 2001. And the agreement in April 1999 by MAC and the Ministry of Public Sector (MPS) of Egypt reflected an effort on cooperation in running the joint venture company besides the duty of two sides providing each other seed, seedling, techniques of breeding and agricultural information.

3. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (EASRT). The two parties signed an agreement on cooperation in December 1979, which focused on strengthening scientific study through their institutes affiliated. The cooperation had been continuing up to 1990s.

4. The Chinese Ministry of Water & Electricity (later the Ministry of Power) and the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity & Energy. The two parties built up the "Joint Committee for Cooperation on Electricity Technology" as a working unit in December 1982. After that they had several meetings during 1980s and 1990s, some of projects were proposed and confirmed that time.



V. Other Cooperative Activities

Besides the above-mentioned STC by the government departments between the two countries, there were also some projects jointly carried out on a base of scientific exchange between the two sides by the universities, scientific institutes, social organizations and firms.

For instance, a kind of regulators called ABT Rooting Powder developed by the Chinese Academy of Forestry was introduced into Egypt in 1999, and because of its remarkable effect for enhancing growth of crops, a cooperation was confirmed with support from the officials and experts of the Ministry of Agriculture in Egypt. In May of 2001, a private farm in Fayoum of Egypt invited a Chinese expert to the local work giving direction and assistance for the sericulture. This cooperation later showed a great influence with its satisfied result in different areas beyond Fayoum, soon it became a real demonstration project of the appropriate-technology utilization. Recently, some small motor-drive vehicles manufactured in China were quite attractive of the local enterprise which started a seeking for the technology transfer and a partner in China.

Among these kinds of projects, some also gained financial support through Chinese government channel such as a demonstration of using solar-energy, a demonstration of using high-performance computer, development of the Optical Character Recognizing System (software), development of the mushroom production technology, and lab facilities for National Research Centre, etc. Anyway, all these projects are a part of STC between the two countries.