Chinese President Hu Jintao has said that his country is concerned about the deteriorating situation in Iraq.

The way out of the current difficult situation is to hold a just and transparent election with Iraqis having a say on their own fate, Hu told his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in a letter, handed over by Chinese representative to the United Nations Wang Guangya to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Monday.

Wang is here for an international conference on Iraq as special envoy of the Chinese government.

The international community, especially the United Nations, has an important role to play in helping Iraq carry out the election, Hu said in the letter.

The concerns of Iraq's neighboring countries and Arab countries should be taken into consideration in the process, he said.

The Chinese president also praised Egypt for its efforts to host the conference and seek a solution to the Iraq issue, saying China hopes that the participants would reach consensus, help stabilize the situation in Iraq and facilitate the political process in the country.

As for Sino-Egyptian ties, Hu said that China and Egypt have a long history of friendly relations and bilateral ties, based on mutual trust and mutual benefit, have enjoyed steady development.

China is willing to further strengthen its cooperation with Egypt on major regional and international issues to enrich bilateral strategic relationship of cooperation, he said.