At the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahmoud Hammoud of the Republic of Lebanon, Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara of the Syrian Arab Republic, Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdul Ilah Al Khatib of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher Al-sayed of the Arab Republic of Egypt and Secretary General Amr Moussa of the League of Arab States, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan will pay an official visit to the above-mentioned four countries and the headquarters of the League of Arab States from December 21 to 28. During the visit, Foreign Minister Tang will have an in-depth exchange of views with the leaders of these countries and the League of Arab States on how to further develop the friendship and cooperation between China and the Arab States in the new century as well as major international and regional issues at present.

From 26 to 28 December, Foreign Minister Tang will pay an official visit to Egypt, when he will hold a talk with Egyptian Foreign Minister Maher and meet President Hosni Mubarak. The two sides would have in-depth and extensive discussions on furthering the strategic cooperative relations between China and Egypt and current situation in the middle east and other important international and regional issues. During the visit to Egypt, Foreign Minister Tang will also meet Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amr Moussa to explore new ways of strengthening the friendly cooperation between China and the Arab countries and the League of Arab States as well. They will also exchange views on current situation in the middle east and the world at large. On the evening of 26 December, Foreign Minister Tang will host a press conference in Cairo to brief his current visit to the four countries and expound China’s position on various issues including development of China-Arab relations and current situation in the middle east.