Egyptian president to visit China next week

BEIJING -- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will pay a state visit to China from Dec 22 to 25 as guest of President Xi Jinping, China's Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday.

"China attaches great importance to its relations with Egypt and hopes the important upcoming visit will promote bilateral ties to a new level," Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular news briefing.

China and Egypt have maintained a healthy friendly relationship since forging diplomatic ties 58 years ago, witnessing productive cooperation in politics, economy and culture, Qin said.

He said as a major country with great influence in the Middle East, Egypt's situation will have an impact on the stability in the region.

Hailing the progress in Egypt's domestic political transition, Qin expressed respect for Egyptian people's choice for their political system and wishes for the country to realize stability and development so as to contribute to regional peace and stability.

Former army chief Sisi was sworn in at the Supreme Constitutional Court as Egypt's new president in June, nearly one year after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.