¡¡¡¡CAIRO, Nov. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior Egyptian official on Thursday extended a welcome to China's active role in promoting the stalled Mideast peace process.

¡¡¡¡"China, as an influential country in the world, is welcomed to play an even greater role in the peace process," Osama al-Baz, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's political advisor, told reporters after meeting with visiting Chinese Mideast envoy Wang Shijie.

¡¡¡¡"China also takes the lead among developing countries, therefore, we welcome its deeper involvement in the peace process,"Baz added.

¡¡¡¡Wang arrived here Wednesday evening to kick off his maiden Mideast tour, which will also take him to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian self-ruled areas.

¡¡¡¡After his talks with Baz, Wang met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on the latest Mideast situation.

¡¡¡¡At the request of Arab countries, China named Wang as its Mideast envoy in September, in an effort to help solve the Arab-Israeli conflict at an early date.

¡¡¡¡The Mideast region is under crisis as the United States threatens to launch military strikes against Iraq while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to escalate. Enditem

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