CAIRO, Jan. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao starts a four-day state visit to Egypt on Thursday.

    Following are some important figures in Sino-Egyptian relations covering bilateral exchanges and important agreements.     

    1. Political exchanges

    China and Egypt established diplomatic relations on May 30, 1956, and their bilateral ties have witnessed smooth development. Top leaders of both countries have exchanged frequent visits, and so have lower-ranking officials.

    During his visit to China in April 1999, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak signed a joint communique with Chinese President Jiang Zemin on establishing strategic cooperative relationship between the two countries.

    On April 17, 2000, Jiang met with Mubarak in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. On Nov. 16-19, 2000, Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Wu Bangguo visited Egypt.

    On Sept. 26, 2001, Jiang and Mubarak held a telephone conversation on anti-terrorism and the Middle East issue. On Dec. 25-28, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan paid a visit to Egypt.

    On April 19-23, 2002, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji visited Egypt. On Jan. 23-26, 2002, Mubarak visited China.     

    2. Economic exchanges

    Both countries have signed several agreements on such issues as trade, investment protection and avoidance of double taxation. A mixed commission of economy and trade has also been set up and it has held five meetings so far.

    The two sides have also carried out cooperation of mutual benefit in such areas as economic technology and labor contracting. China has undertaken a number of Egyptian projects, including Cairo International Conference Center.

    In 1999, bilateral trade volume totaled 750.2 million US dollars, of which China's exports to Egypt were 715.8 million dollars while imports from Egypt were 34.4 million dollars.

    The total trade volume hit 953.2 million dollars in 2001. Chinese exports to Egypt amounted to 872.8 million dollars and its imports from Egypt totaled 80.4 million dollars.     

    3. Cultural exchanges

    Both sides signed an official agreement on cultural cooperation in 1956. So far, they have signed six implementation plans to that effect. China has attended almost every Cairo International Book Exhibition and International Movie Festival.

    In Dec. 1995, both sides signed a memorandum of understanding on educational cooperation. China has also been sending sports coaches to Egypt since 1972.     

    4. Important bilateral agreements and documents

    In May 1956, both countries signed a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level.

    In April 1999, they signed a joint communique on establishing a strategic cooperative relationship. Enditem