国内英语新闻:China, Egypt eye closer economic tie

CAIRO, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Egyptian industry officials vowed closer bilateral economic ties on Sunday with the signing of an industrial cooperation agreement.

Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid met with Chinese Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong. Both talked about the expansion and improvement of bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Rachid told reporters that he hoped the new agreement would pave the way for more cooperation in different industry sectors including manufacturing of cars components, textiles, petrochemicals, electronics and technology.

"This agreement includes the process of sharing technology and increasing investment in the industrial sector and training of workers as well as helping Egyptian companies promote their products in the Chinese markets," said the Egyptian minister.

The agreement also included the formation of an Egyptian- Chinese task force that takes the responsibility of sharing information and experiments in the industrial sectors and encouraging Egyptian and Chinese firms to establish joint ventures in different areas of cooperation, according to Rachid.

Rachid said that Egypt wanted to benefit from the successful Chinese experience in the industrial sector.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif also met with the Chinese minister. The prime minister said Egypt shows great interest in boosting cooperation with China.

The bilateral trade between Egypt and China increased from 3 billion U.S. dollars in 2006 to 6.24 billion dollars in 2008, according to Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Wu Chunhua.

By the end of last year, Chinese investment in Egypt exceeded 500 million U.S. dollars. Chinese auto companies such as Chery Automobile and Brilliance Automobile have had assembly lines here in Egypt.

Rachid expected that the Egyptian-Chinese cooperation would witness a great milestone in all sectors, particularly the trade and industry relations thanks to exchanges in the economic and political levels.