Special report: Top Legislator Wu's 3-Nation Trip

    BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo left here Friday for a 10-day visit to Egypt, Hungary and Poland.

    Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), went there at the invitation of Ahmed Fathi Sorour, speaker of the People's Assembly of Egypt, Szili Katalin, speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary, and Ludwik Dorn, speaker of the house of representatives of Polish National Assembly.

    Backgrounder: Major facts of China-Egypt relations

    BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Wu Bangguo left here on Friday for Egypt, the first leg of his 10-day three-nation tour. The other two stops are Hungary and Poland.

    Following are some major facts of the relations between the two countries.

    1. Political exchanges

    China and Egypt established the diplomatic relations on May 30,1956, and their bilateral ties have witnessed a smooth development ever since. Top leaders of the two countries have exchanged frequent visits and so have other-ranking officials.

    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited China in April 1999 and signed a joint communique with his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin on establishing the 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 then Vice Premier Wu Bangguo visited Egypt.

    On Sept. 26, 2001, Jiang and Mubarak held a telephone conversation on anti-terrorism and Middle East issue.

    On Jan. 23-26, 2002, Mubarak visited China.

    During April 19-23, 2002, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji visited Egypt.

    During Jan. 29 - Feb. 1, 2004, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Egypt.

    In Nov. 2004, Chinese Vice Premier Huang Ju visited Egypt during which he held talks with Egyptian leaders on boosting strategic cooperative ties and bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

    On May 30, 2006, the two countries celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties.

    In June 2006, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Egypt, during which he held talks with the Egyptian leaders and signed 11 pacts on bilateral cooperation in such fields as politics, diplomacy, economy, trade, agriculture and education.

    In Nov. 2006, Mubarak attended the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing and paid a state visit to China.

¡¡¡¡2. Economic exchanges

    The two sides have signed several agreements on trade, investment protection and avoidance of double taxation. A mixed commission of economy and trade has also been set up.

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

    The total trade volume hit 3.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, up48.8 percent compared with 2005.

    By the end of 2006, China had invested 52.3 million dollars in Egypt.

    3. Cultural exchanges

    The two sides signed an official agreement on cultural cooperation in 1956.

    China has attended almost every Cairo International Book Exhibition and International Movie Festival.

    In Dec. 1995, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on educational cooperation. China has also sent sports coaches to Egypt since 1972.

    Four Egyptian universities have now offered courses where their students can major in Chinese.