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Chinese President Xi Jinping was officially welcomed to Egypt by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi at the Presidential Palace, on the second day of his two-day visit to the country. It is the first time in 12 years that a Chinese president has visited Egypt. Closer ties are expected to be forged during this trip. [Special Coverage]
A welcome ceremony bringing Sino-Egyptian ties even closer.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was warmly received by his counterpart President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.
The two held talks, during which President Xi said China supports the efforts of Egypt to maintain stability and play a bigger role in international and regional affairs.
Echoing Xi, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said that Egypt is ready to deepen pragmatic cooperation with China in various fields and promote the development of a comprehensive strategic partnership with China.
And the words have already been put into practice.
The two presidents witnessed the signing of several agreements on deeper cooperation.
The China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co. reached a deal with its Egyptian partner to build a 1,210 km power transmission line in the southeast of the Nile Delta in Egypt, the largest project of its kind in the country.
China's Xinhua News Agency and Egypt's State Information Service signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on news reporting and publications, a further step in cultural exchanges.
Bilateral trade between China and Egypt reached a record high of 11.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.
The two-way trade amounted to almost 10 billion dollars in the first three quarters of 2015, up 13 percent year-on-year.
The visit, which comes at the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Egypt, is expected to chart out a more prosperous future of the two countries' relations.
