Xi exchanges congratulations with Egyptian president on 70th anniversary of ties

BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday exchanged congratulations with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Xi said that Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Over the past 70 years, no matter how the international and regional landscapes have evolved, the two countries have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, placed mutual trust in each other and helped each other in times of need, Xi said. He said China-Egypt relations have become a model of amity, solidarity and cooperation among developing countries, as well as a benchmark for collective cooperation between China and Arab states and between China and Africa, thereby advancing steadily toward building a China-Egypt community with a shared future in the new era. As two ancient civilizations and important members of the Global South, Xi said, China and Egypt should draw wisdom and strength from history, strive to accomplish the historical missions of pursuing peace, development, cooperation and upholding justice so as to inject strong impetus into building a community with a shared future for humanity. Xi said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Egypt relations and stands ready to work together with Sisi to take the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties as a new starting point, carry forward the traditional friendship, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and push for the growth of China-Egypt relations featuring greater strategic guidance, stronger synergy for development and broader international influence, so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples and make greater contributions to peace and development in the region and beyond. For his part, Sisi said that Egypt and China have stood shoulder to shoulder through various historical periods and under the joint guidance of the leaders of the two countries over the past 70 years, Egypt-China relations have sustained steady growth. Applauding the important achievements in Egypt-China relations, Sisi voiced hope of working with Xi to push for further progress in bilateral ties, and jointly build a more stable multipolar world with greater capacity to address global challenges, so as to enable all countries to share the fruits of comprehensive development and jointly realize peace and security. Also on Saturday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly exchanged congratulations. Li voiced China's willingness to work with Egypt to follow through on the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, accelerate high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, enhance exchanges and cooperation across various fields and work for steady growth of the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples. For his part, Madbouly said that over the past 70 years, Egypt-China relations have made remarkable progress and bilateral cooperation has achieved unprecedented results. Egypt looks forward to further strengthening cooperation with China and making steady headway in such fields as economy, science and technology so as to deliver benefits to the two friendly countries and the two peoples.