Egyptian Ambassador to China Mahmoud Allam said on Wednesday that Egypt would further enhance economic and trade cooperation with China, so as to deepen their strategic relationship of cooperation.

Allam said that the past ten years since the establishment of Egypt-China strategic relationship of cooperation saw great achievements of the bilateral cooperation in various fields.

According to the ambassador, the bilateral trade volume reached 6.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2008 and China is expected to be the biggest trade partner of Egypt in 2010.

Allam said that the both sides had made big progress in cooperation on agriculture, ranging from aquiculture and edible fungus to genetic engineering and anti-desertification. As to energy cooperation, "Egypt hopes to further work together with China in the fields of nuclear energy, renewable energy and power plants."

Allam noted that Egypt and China, as two developing countries, were faced with challenges of the international financial crisis. The two countries should enhance cooperation, both in the bilateral and the regional and international affairs, in order to play an more important role in the process of forging a new international financial order.

China and Egypt forged diplomatic ties in 1956, and established a strategic relationship of cooperation in 1999.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2009)