Mubarak meets Chinese leaders, pledges friendship and trade ties
( 2002-01-25 12:08 ) (7 )

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met a series of Chinese leaders on the second day of his visit to China on Thursday, with both sides pledging friendship and closer business links.

Mubarak held talks with Chinese premier Zhu Rongji at a state guest house in west Beijing, with both leaders warmly describing each other as "old friends".

The president said he believed his visit would "promote economic cooperation and investment between our two countries", stressing his desire to set up a bilateral business council during earlier talks with Chinese trade ministers.

Later Thursday Mubarak met parliamentary chairman Li Peng and Chinese number four Li Ruihuan.

The previous day, Mubarak held talks with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, touching on peace in the Middle East and both countries' efforts to combat terrorism.

The Egyptian leader will travel to the bustling southern commercial city of Shenzhen on Friday morning and is due to leave China the next day.