Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Wu Sike and his wife hosted a celebration reception here on Thursday to mark the 57th birthday of the People's Republic of China.

More than 600 people, representing the Egyptian government, foreign embassies in Egypt, overseas Chinese and Chinese companies based in Egypt, attended the reception.

Chairman of the Egypt-China Friendship Association and former Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Yussef Amin Wali, Egyptian Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Amin Abbaza, Minister of Health and Population Hatem el-Gabali, Minister of State for the Environment Magid George, and Chairman of the State Information Service Ayman el-Qafaas were among those attending the reception.

In his address, Ambassador Wu briefed the guests on tremendous changes that have taken place in China since its founding in 1949, particularly China's economic success in recent years.

In the passing year, Sino-Egyptian strategic and cooperative relations have been consolidated and deepened, and cooperation among all fields between the two nations has maintained good momentum, said Wu.

Wu said this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Egyptian ties, which witnessed a successful visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in June.

The People's Republic of China was founded on Oct. 1, 1949. China and Egypt forged diplomatic ties in 1956.

Source: Xinhua