The Egyptian leader arrived Beijing yesterday on a trip that will also take him to Iran.
The newly elected Egyptian President, Mohamed Mursi yesterday August 28 arrived in China for the first leg of a high-profile foreign trip that will also take him to Iran later this week for the Non-Aligned Summit.
Al Jazeera Television said he will spend three days in Beijing meeting with officials, including his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. Talks are expected to focus mostly on business and investment. The Egyptian leader is taking with him a delegation of seven ministers and several dozen businessmen. Mursi is also expected to sign a number of development contracts, the State-run Al Ahram newspaper reported. These include plans for a new power plant, a water desalination plant, and dozens of grain silos and bakeries.
Trade between China and Egypt has increased exponentially over the last few years and now totals nearly 9 billion dollars (about FCFA 4,706 billion), most of it Egyptian imports from China. According to President Mursi’s spokesman, Yasser Ali, the trip also includes finding a solution to the Syrian crisis.
The AFP news agency said Cairo and Beijing are to sign agreements for seven major projects, including a power station in Upper Egypt, industrial bakeries and Internet development. Egypt will also propose the development of a high-speed train line between Cairo and Alexandria, Assistant Planning Minister, Nabil Abdel Hamid told Al-Ahram. Coinciding with Mursi’s visit is the holding of a joint business forum in Beijing to be attended by some 80 Egyptian business leaders, the Investment Ministry announced.
On his way back from China, President Mohamed Mursi will attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, Iran on Thursday August 30. He is expected to pass the movement’s presidency to Iran. It will be the first visit by an Egyptian leader since the two countries severed diplomatic relations more than 30 years ago. Iran severed ties with Egypt in 1980 after the Islamic Revolution in protest against the 1979 peace accords between Egypt and Israel.
