On May 9th, 2017, a meeting was held at the Council’s headquarter with the delegation of China Institute of International Studies(SIIS). The Egyptian delegation included Ambassador Dr. Ezzat Saad Director of ECFA, Ambassador Hisham El-Zimaity, the Secretary General of the Council, Ambassador Ali El-Hefny, coordinator of the Permanent committee of the Asian affairs, Ambassador Ahmed Abd-el-Aziz, assistant of Foreign Minister for East Asian affairs and Mr. Mostafa Ibrahim, representative of the Egyptian Businessmen association. From the Chinese side, the delegation included Mr. Ye Qing, Director of the Institute, and some of the experts and academics of the Institute such as Prof. Chen Youjun, Prof. Li Weijian, Prof. Jin Liangxiang and Ms.XuXiaolan.
During the meeting, they exchanged views on issues related to the belt and road initiative, developments in the region and Chinese diplomacy in the Middle East.
The Egyptian delegation confirmed on the fact that the meeting is an extension of the Council’s efforts to coordinate with their Chinese counterparts on the belt and road initiative, the most prominent of which was when a delegation of the China Center For Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS) on 18th of March. The importance of the strengthening of the economic aspect between the two countries was emphasized in order to reflect the evolution of the political and historical ties between the two countries. But also, since Egypt was one of the first countries to sign the memorandum of cooperation under the initiative.