Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Ming on Tuesday to prepare for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit to Egypt in January, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zaid said.
National Security Advisor, Ambassador Fayza Aboul Naga and Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil El-Araby, also attended the meeting. During the officials’ discussions of visit preparations, Chinese official noted that Jinping will give a speech during his visit to the Arab League.
He confirmed the importance of Jinping’s visit to Egypt since it will be his first visit to in 12 years and the first in 2016. China is eager for the visit to succeed and to showcase good diplomatic relations between both countries and a mutual aspiration to advance them, the official said.
Shoukry highlighted Egypt’s efforts to provide what is necessary for the visit’s success and praised China’s support to Egypt politically and economically. He further praised the good relations between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and his Chinese counterpart, exemplified in their cooperation in 2015 discussions.
China’s official delivered an invitation to Al-Sisi during the meeting to attend the 11th summit of the 20th group scheduled to be held in September in Guanzhou, China.
Ming said China will host the summit in 2016 and is supposed to invite only two countries as guests and decided to invite Egypt due to its diplomatic importance. Abu Zaid said there will be more coordination and support between Egypt and China.
Al-Sisi visited Beijing in December 2015 and signed five strategic partnership agreements in various fields. Egypt also proposed 15 investment projects worth $15bn at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg, South Africa.
During the summit and in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, African leaders, and top Chinese officials, Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail gave a speech on the importance of Sino-African cooperation and the necessity of China’s participation in African development projects.
