On May 17, 2019, Minister Wang Zhigang of the Ministry of Science and Technology met with visiting Egyptian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar and his delegation in Beijing.

Minister Wang Zhigang said that China and Egypt enjoy profound traditional friendship and have made tremendous progress in their comprehensive strategic partnership in recent years under the leadership of the two heads of state. He noted that the two counties have promoted extensive exchanges and cooperation in the fields of agriculture, forestry, water resources, new energy and desert control under the frameworks of the China-Africa Science and Technology Partnership Program and the China-Arab Science and Technology Partnership Program. Minister Wang Zhigang pointed out that China and Egypt are currently facing major issues such as economic development and livelihood improvement and STI is an inevitable choice and an important path to promote high-quality economic growth and social development. For the new era, he hoped that the two sides will further strengthen connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative, make good use of the intergovernmental science and technology cooperation mechanism, and focus on important concerns of both countries, jointly push forward the delivery of the Belt and Road Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Action Plan, and bring STI cooperation between the two countries to a higher level.

Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar spoke highly of the importance of STI cooperation between Egypt and China in bilateral relations and appreciated China’s achievements in the development of STI. Minister Ghaffar said that the Egyptian side looks forward to further expanding cooperation with the Chinese side in joint research projects, joint laboratory building and Talented Young Scientist Program to create more opportunities for exchanges and cooperation between researchers of the two countries and make active contributions to the development of bilateral relations between Egypt and China.

Egyptian Ambassador to China Osama Elmagdoub, Director-General Ye Dongbai of the Department of International Cooperation and Director-General Xu Jing of the Department of Strategy and Planning of the Ministry of Science and Technology attended the meeting.