China welcomes the efforts of other countries and the
international community to promote peace and development in the
African continent, the Chinese envoy to Egypt said on
Wednesday.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Chinese Ambassador to
Egypt Wu Chunhua said the Sino-Egyptian friendship is based on
mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, while the bilateral
cooperation, as a part of the international cooperation, is public,
open and transparent.
"China would like to learn from the respective cooperation
between Africa and other international communities to make mutual
promotion," said Wu.
He hailed the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation as a good
platform to facilitate the bilateral cooperation, noting that
economic and trade exchange between China and Africa are
complementary.
Follow-up actions of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum Beijing
Summit held in November 2006 were being implemented smoothly and
have produced initial results, Wu added.
"After more than 50 years of the establishment of China-Africa
diplomatic ties, the Sino-African friendship has endured the test
of time, while the consolidation of unity and cooperation with
African countries is China's long-term strategic choice," said the
Chinese diplomat.
As for the bilateral cooperation between China and Egypt, the
first African and Arab country to establish diplomatic ties with
China, Wu said that the two countries witnessed more and more
political exchanges in 2007, including exchange of high-level
visits.
In 2007, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress (NPC) of China, visited Egypt, while
Ahmed Fathi Sorour, Speaker of the Egyptian People's Assembly(lower
house of the parliament) visited China.
"The bilateral strategic cooperation was consolidated and
deepened in the past year, while the exchange and cooperation in
various fields keeps good development trend," Wu said.
The bilateral trade is rising rapidly with the total volume up
to 4 billion U.S. dollars, a 25-percent increase year-on-year,
while the number of Chinese companies in Egypt rose to more than300
with the total investment of over 400 million dollars, providing
more than 6,000 job opportunities to the Egyptian people, according
to Wu.
He also lauded the cultural exchange between the two countries
as the "Chinese fever" is popular in Egypt, with the establishment
of a Confucius Institute at Cairo University, the first in Egypt
and northern Africa.
As China's full-fledged representative to the Arab League, Wu
also highlighted the role of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum since
its establishment in 2004 through holding two ministerial meetings,
four senior official-level meetings and two entrepreneur
conferences, as well as two conferences on civilization
dialogue.
The Chinese diplomat expressed China's willingness to explore
new forms, channels and systems to construct new China-Arab
partnership and promote bilateral understanding and friendship.
(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2007)
