国内英语新闻:China, Egypt to further enhance defense cooperation

CAIRO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi pledged to further enhance defense cooperation with China during his meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe on Monday.

During the meeting, Sisi recalled the long-standing China-Egypt relation during which the two sides had achieved fruitful results from their cooperation in all fields and highlighted China's contribution to world peace.

He hailed China's great achievements in its development, saying that Egypt firmly supports the Belt and Road Initiative and expects to enhance cooperation in the field of infrastructure construction with the Chinese side.

Sisi also expressed his hope that the two sides can further enhance defense cooperation and conduct more cooperation in the fields of counter terrorism, joint military drills, armed forces buildup as well as defense industry.

Noting that the friendship between China and Egypt has a long history, Wei highlighted the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, adding that it has gone deeper and achieved pragmatic results.

Wei said that China appreciates Egypt's important role in international and regional issues, supports Egypt's efforts to defend its independence and sovereignty, adding that China is ready to enhance cooperation and work together with Egypt to promote the Belt and Road Initiative to achieve better and faster development of bilateral relations.

Under the leadership of the two heads of state, the military cooperation between China and Egypt has achieved fruitful results. "We are willing to work together with the Egyptian armed forces to implement important consensus between the two leaders and develop a higher level of relations between the two armies," Wei said.

Wei also met with Egyptian Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki on Sunday.