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China, Egypt friends with long civilizations, key strategic ties: Cairo governor

Xinhua, September 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

China and Egypt are two friend states with long civilization and very important strategic ties, Cairo Governor Galal al-Saeed told Xinhua on Tuesday.

The governor's remarks came during a ceremony held by the Chinese embassy in Cairo to mark the 66th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"The Chinese and Egyptian peoples share mutual love and respect. I hope for the Egyptian-Chinese ties to further grow in the future, whether strong political or economic relations in favor of both peoples," Saeed said during the ceremony.

For his part, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Song Aiguo described the friendship between Egypt and China as "time-honored" and the bilateral relations between the two countries as "strong and close."

He noted that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has recently visited China and that Egypt was the only African and Arab country that participated in the military parade recently held in Chinese capital Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II (WWII) and the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

"Egypt is a major Arab, African and developing country. China has always been viewing and developing the China-Egypt relations from a strategic and long-term prospective," Song said.

"China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership will bear more and more fruits to benefit the two peoples," Song concluded.

Dozens of Asian, Arab, African and European diplomats, politicians and experts were present at the ceremony, including European Union's Ambassador to Egypt James Moran, Egypt's former Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and Giza Governor Khaled Zakariya.

"I lived in China for more than six years as a child, as my father served as Egypt's ambassador there. He always said in the 60's that China one day will become a big power and he was right," the Giza governor told Xinhua.

China and Egypt enjoy deep-rooted and strong ties as Egypt was the first Arab and African country to recognize China as an independent state, and the two countries have recently elevated their ties to the level of "comprehensive strategic partnership." Endit