Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Wu Sike said Wednesday in Cairo that China attaches great importance to the bilateral relations between China and Egypt.

"To strengthen and develop the strategic cooperative relationship between China and Egypt is a long-standing policy of the Chinese government," Wu said at a reception held at the Chinese Embassy.

He noted it is five years since China and Egypt started a strategic cooperative relationship and bilateral ties have enjoyed steady growth ever since.

A delegation led by Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai is due to arrive in Cairo Saturday to further deepen bilateral cooperation in the economic field, the ambassador disclosed.

During the first nine months of this year, trade exchange between China and Egypt has reached some 1.2 billion US dollars, a 51.1 percent growth over the same period last year.

Chinese companies have invested about 150 million US dollars in Egypt by the end of June 2004.

China and Egypt, two important developing countries in the world, have seen relations growing steadily in all fields since they first established diplomatic ties in 1956.