At the invitation of Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid an official visit to Egypt from July 17 to 19, 2021, which is his first visit to Egypt after the worldwide spread of the pandemic.
The visit in the context of the pandemic fully demonstrated China's great importance to the development of China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership and the brotherhood of the two sides against the epidemic.
During the visit to Egypt, China and Egypt conducted in-depth exchanges on major international and regional issues and promoted the new development of Chinese-Egyptian comprehensive strategic partnership.
Political lead offer guidance for China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership.
During his meeting with met with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that, Egypt regards China as a true friend and reliable partner, and will unswervingly and undisturbedly develop the bilateral cooperation with China in various fields and take the opportunity of celebrating the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between Egypt and China.
Egypt unswervingly pursues the one-China policy, and firmly supports China's efforts to safeguard national sovereignty, security and stability and to combat terrorism and religious extremism. Egypt is willing to coordinate closely with China in jointly promoting regional peace and stability.
Wang Yi said that China and Egypt are interdependent good friends, and the friendship between the two countries, which has stood the test of international circumstances, is unbreakable and firm as a rock. China highly appreciates Egypt for always standing with China on the issues involving China's core interests and major concerns.
China also firmly supports Egypt in continuing to explore a development path suited to its national conditions, pursuing an independent policy, and making efforts to fight terrorism, maintain stability and eradicate extremism. China is ready to beef up coordination and cooperation with Egypt in international affairs, jointly uphold and practice multilateralism, oppose unilateralism and bullying, and push forward the reform of global governance in the right direction.
Not long ago, the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization unanimously agreed to accept Egypt as a dialogue partner, which will open new doors for Egypt to participate more in regional and international affairs and play a constructive role.
China looks forward to working together with Egypt to build the Chinese-Egyptian community with a shared future, and turn the bilateral ties into a pioneering model for the China-Arab states and China-Africa communities with a shared future. China hopes that Egypt will continue to play a positive role in the building of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
Practical cooperation in various fields is the solid cornerstone of China-Egypt friendship.
Wang Yi said, Egypt is an important partner in building the BRI, and China is willing to strengthen the synergy between the BRI and Egypt's Vision 2030, help Egypt accelerate its pace of industrialization, enhance its scientific and technological capabilities, uplift its development level, and deepen the law enforcement and security cooperation to safeguard the common security of the two countries.
China is willing to further align the development strategies with Egypt, expand cooperation in areas such as production capacity, infrastructure, new energy, aerospace, and high technology, and open up new prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.
The two sides should strengthen people-to-people exchanges, deepen cooperation in vocational education, Chinese language education, and vocational training, and consolidate the foundation of public opinion for mutual benefit and friendship.
President Sisi said that Egypt supports the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while hoping to boost cooperation with China in infrastructure, industrial parks, high technology and other fields, and become an important gateway for Chinese enterprises to enter the Middle East and Africa.
Vaccine cooperation is a vivid interpretation of China-Egypt brotherhood in the context of the pandemic
After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries united to fight the pandemic, which became a new highlight in bilateral relations. On July 18, Wang Yi and Shoukry attended the virtual ceremony marking the joint production of one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in Egypt.
President Sisi said that Egypt thanks China for providing the COVID-19 vaccines and helping the country produce the vaccines locally, and hopes to further step up anti-pandemic cooperation with China. Wang Yi said China will continue to support the local production of the vaccine in Egypt to help the country overcome the pandemic. Shoukry said China has set a model for the world in fighting the pandemic. Egypt hopes to continue to promote vaccine cooperation between the two sides. And Egypt supports China's position on the issue of origin tracing.
The signing of an agreement to establish an intergovernmental cooperation committee between China and Egypt is the latest achievement of China-Egypt friendship.
Wang Yi said that Egypt is one of China's most important strategic partners in Arab countries, the Islamic world, Africa and developing countries. Under the care and guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership has been continuously improved and achieved fruitful results.
Shoukry said Egypt is the first Arab country and African country to establish diplomatic relations with New China. Egypt cherishes its historic friendship with China and is willing to further coordinate and cooperate with China to safeguard the common interests of the two countries and promote international and regional peace and stability.
After the talks, Wang Yi and Shoukry signed an agreement to establish an intergovernmental cooperation committee between China and Egypt which will help to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, push forward the two countries to take the opportunity of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Egypt to promote China-Egypt relations to a new level, and speed up the building of a China-Egypt community with a shared future, so as to play a leading role in building a community with a shared future between China and Arab and African countries.
The legitimate rights and interests of the Palestinian people is an important issue that China has always cared about.
Wang Yi said, China, as the United Nations (UN) Security Council's rotating president, facilitated five Council meetings to review the Palestinian question amid the conflict between Palestine and Israel, and helped the issuance of a press statement of the President. Just days ago, China held another Palestine-Israel Peace Symposium in unremitting efforts to promote ceasefire and resumption of peace talks between Palestine and Israel.
Lasting peace cannot be achieved without justice being its foundation. The establishment of an independent Palestinian state should not be delayed indefinitely, and the legitimate and lawful rights of the Arab people should not be ignored for long. The "two-state solution" is the only realistic path to resolving the Palestinian question. All parties concerned with the Palestinian question and the international community should make practical efforts to promote the "two-state solution" on the basis of UN resolutions. China puts forward the following three ideas:
First, the authority of the Palestinian National Authority should be enhanced, and it should be authorized to exercise sovereign functions in security, finance and other areas, so as to gain effective control over the autonomous and occupied territories; second, the Palestinian factions should be supported for greater unity, whereby they can achieve internal reconciliation through consultation and dialogue, and come to a unified position on talks for the settlement of the Palestinian question; third, Palestine and Israel should be encouraged to resume peace talks based on the "two-state solution". Palestinian and Israeli negotiators are welcomed to conduct direct talks in China. In the meanwhile, China calls for the holding of an international peace conference led by the UN with the participation of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and all stakeholders in the Middle East peace process to seek a comprehensive, lasting and just settlement of the Palestinian question and to enable Palestine and Israel to co-exist in peace. These three ideas have been warmly welcomed by the Palestine side.
Shoukry and Gheit agreed with the ideas put forward by China and are willing to communicate and coordinate closely with China on the Palestinian question, while hoping that the international community will urge Israel to stop all settlement activities in the occupied territories and lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip. China has never colonized or invaded any country, but always stands on the side of justice and principles ingoverning international relations, and has exerted positive influences on promoting the settlement of the Palestinian question. China is expected to play a greater role in regional affairs.
China and Egypt pay close attention to the situation after the recent Palestine-Israel conflict and hold that while continuing to promote a just settlement of the Palestinian question, both sides should be concerned about the humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people, and in particular, should take specific measures to help the Palestinian people fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, China and Egypt decided to jointly provide 500,000 doses of vaccines to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip based on the COVID-19 vaccine filling plant jointly established by the two countries in Egypt to address the urgent needs of the local people. This batch of aid will be implemented as soon as possible through coordination with Palestine.
Strengthening long-term China-Arab cooperation is a strong guarantee for regional stability
During his visit to Egypt, State Councilor Wang Yi also met with Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit and had an in-depth exchange of views with him on Chinese-Arab relations as well as regional and international issues. Wang Yi said, Arab states have created splendid civilizations in history. China sincerely hopes that Arab states will continue to create new glories in the future.
China supports Arab states in pursuing a path of unity and self-improvement and taking their destiny into their own hands, and supports the LAS in playing a bigger role in promoting regional peace and stability as well as political settlement of hotspot issues.
Wang Yi said, in recent years, China and Arab States have taken the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum as a platform to push forward China-Arab relations. The two sides reached the consensus of "jointly building a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era" and agreed to hold the first China-Arab Summit to inject strong impetus into the development of China-Arab strategic partnership.
China is ready to work with Arab states to actively implement the outcomes of the ninth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and jointly build a China-Arab community with a shared future.
Gheit congratulated on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and spoke highly of the historic achievements made by the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC. Gheit said that the Arab-China relations are very strong, and the LAS hopes to further strengthen bilateral relations with China. He thanks China for providing anti-pandemic materials to the LAS.
The LAS appreciates China's just position on regional issues, supports China's initiatives on regional situation and hotspot issues and stands ready to keep close communication with China to ensure the success of the first Arab-China Summit.
The two sides issued a joint statement, stressing that they will strengthen China-Arab states long-term cooperation, prepare for the first China-Arab states summit and strive to build a China-Arab community with a shared future.
In the joint statement, the two sides emphasized that they should continue to strengthen close cooperation in the economic, social, development, and news fields, and emphasized the importance of the China-Arab Data Security Cooperation Initiative signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the Arab League Secretariat to jointly accelerate digital economic cooperation; both sides emphasized that the international cooperation in prevention and control the epidemic should be strengthened and oppose to the politicization of the epidemic, and calls for to coundeuct origin-tracing work under the spirit of science.
The two sides also stressed the need to adhere to the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs, uphold multilateralism, oppose politicizing human rights issues, oppose unilateralism, and promote the building of a new type of international relations.
They stressed the importance of a just, comprehensive and durable solution to the Palestinian question on the basis of the two-state solution, supported all efforts aimed at preventing the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, and advocated more robust counter-terrorism efforts and the eradication of the root causes of terrorism.
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