Chinese, Egyptian PMs hold talks over ties

Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazef on Saturday afternoon to discuss means to deepen bilateral strategic and cooperative relations.

Following the talks, the two leaders attended a signing ceremony for 11 accords covering political, economic, cultural and educational aspects.

Of the accords, Wen and Nazef signed "the Implementary Outlines for Deepening the Strategic Cooperative Relations between the People's Republic of China and the Arab Republic of Egypt."

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit signed an agreement between the two governments on mutual exemption from visa for Chinese diplomatic and service passport holders and for Egyptian diplomatic and special passport holders.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Faiza Abu Naga inked three agreements, namely, an agreement on economic and technological cooperation, a framework agreement on preferential loan from China to Egypt and a MOU between the two governments on building a rural primary school in Egypt.

After the signing ceremony, Wen and Nazef attended a ceremony to inaugurate several cooperative projects in Egypt, including an investors' building featuring one-stop service, a phosphate project in New Valley, and a project of rehabilitation of Cairo International Conference Center and construction of a five-star affiliated hotel.

Wen arrived here Saturday afternoon on a two-day official visit to Egypt at the invitation of Nazef.

Egypt is the first leg of Wen's seven-nation visit to Africa, which will also take him to Ghana, the Republic of Congo, Angola, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

Source: Xinhua