Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs Aly Houssam el-Hefny has hailed that President Hosni Mubarak's recent visit to China opens new vistas for strategic cooperation between the two sides, the official MENA news agency reported Sunday.

In an interview with MENA, Hefny asserted the Egyptian leadership's keenness to continue to play a pivotal role on the international arena at the political and economic levels, along with cooperation with China, one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Mubarak arrived in Beijing on Nov. 3 and attended the two-day Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which is seen as an important conference to promote a new Sino-African strategic partnership and strengthen the cooperation between China and Africa.

Following the Beijing Summit, Mubarak also made a state visit to China.

Hefny, who served as Egypt's ambassador to China from September 2001 till August 2005, said Mubarak's ninth visit to China during Nov. 3-7 aimed at striking a balance in Egypt's foreign relations.

Mubarak's visit was also meant to activate the Egyptian partnership with China while taking into consideration the 1999 agreement signed between the two countries on establishing Egyptian-Chinese strategic cooperative ties.

He further underlined the importance of the timing of Mubarak's visit to Beijing in light of the assertive steps adopted to proceed with the economic reform process in Egypt.

The two sides also probed means to overcome obstacles to the Sino-Egyptian cooperation, Hefny said, adding that a raft of agreements on fostering cooperation have been signed between the two countries.

Hefny also deemed China as a strong partner to Africa, saying this year marked 50th anniversary of China-Africa diplomatic ties.

He also disclosed that senior Egyptian officials are expected to visit China in November and December to give a thrust to Sino- Egyptian cooperation.

Among the Egyptian officials are Tourism Minister Zuheir Garana, Communications and Information Technology Minister Tarek Kamel and Minister of State for Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish.

During their visits to China, a new raft of agreements and memorandums of understanding will be inked between the two countries, added Hefny.

China and Egypt officially declared the establishment of diplomatic ties on May 30, 1956, which made Egypt the first Arab and African country to forge diplomatic relations with China.

In 1999, Egypt and China signed a joint communique, declaring the goal to establish Egypt-China strategic cooperative relations.

In June 2006 when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Egypt, the two nations signed an implementation outline for deepening strategic and cooperative relations, in which the two nations agreed to set up strategic dialogue mechanism between their foreign ministers.

Source: Xinhua