CAIRO, October 30 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Obeid met on Tuesday with Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming, and spoke highly of the friendly and cooperative relations between Egypt and China.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Obeid lauded China’s outstanding achievements in developing economy, and voiced congratulations on China’s imminent entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). China has supported the Egyptian people’s struggles for national liberation and construction for a long time, he said, adding that the friendship between the two peoples are deeply-rooted and that the bilateral ties are firmly-founded. He said that the Egyptian people are encouraged by China’s economic achievements over the past years, expressing belief that there are great potentials and broad prospects for cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, science and technology, tourism, environment protection and health. Egypt is glad to see China will enter the WTO in the near future, he said, adding that China’s WTO membership will not only strengthen the role of the developing countries in the multilateral trade organization as an important balancing power, but also contribute to WTO’s development. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will pay a very important visit to China in the near future, Obeid said, adding that Egypt is looking forward to the visit and wish it a success.

On his part, Ambassador Liu said that China attaches great importance to Egypt’s influential role in the regional and international affairs, and cherishes the long-lasting friendly and cooperative ties with Egypt.

He added that the Sino-Egyptian relations have been developing steadily, especially since President Jiang Zemin and President Mubarak decided to establish a strategic cooperative relationship between the two countries in 1999, thus setting a new guideline for the bilateral ties. China is ready to make joint efforts with the Egyptian side to ensure success of Mubarak’s eighth visit to China, Ambassador Liu said.

Ambassador Liu conveyed cordial greetings to Prime Minister Obeid from Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji. Prime Minister Obeid also asked Ambassador Liu to convey his best wishes to his Chinese counterpart