Courting the dragon

President Mubarak arrived yesterday on a four-day visit to China. Nevine Khalil reports from Beijing
President Hosni Mubarak, who arrived in Beijing yesterday heading an Egyptian delegation on its four- day visit, immediately began the first of two rounds of talks with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. And while the situation in the Middle East, terrorism, and developments in Afghanistan will all feature in the discussions, topping the agenda of both leaders will be ways of boosting Sino-Egyptian trade.
This morning Mubarak was scheduled to preside over the signing of an agreement to create a Sino- Egyptian Business Council, an extension of the strategic cooperation agreement between Egypt and China that was finalised during the President's last visit to the Chinese capital in 1999. The Business Council, which will comprise 46 Egyptian and 25 Chinese businessmen, will be charged indentifying those areas in which cooperation will be mutually beneficial, and in formulating the strategies and mechanisms that will realise such benefits.
According to Khaled Abu Ismail, chairman of the Egyptian part of the Council, members have been selected on the basis of their ability to promote Egyptian interests. Importers of capital equipment, primary products, cotton and agricultural producers, as well as representatives of the tourism sector predominate. The latter are hoping to capitalise on last year's inclusion by Beijing of Egypt on its list of recommended tourist destinations.
"We didn't choose those exclusively interested in trading in finished goods and commodities," said Abu Ismail, who has extensive experience in Asian markets. "We hope that the president's visit will start cooperation on the right footing."
While Egypt and China instigated economic reform programmes during the mid-'70s, Chinese progress has been quicker. Bilateral trade currently stands at $894 million, of which Chinese exports to Egypt account for $824 million. Closing this massive trade gap is likely to be an uphill struggle.
One area ripe for development is the field of information technology. Mubarak's visit to the city of Shenzhen -- "a special economic zone" and home to a sprawling high-tech park developed from a fisherman's village in the 1980s -- is scheduled for tomorrow. On 13 January Shenzen signed a research cooperation agreement with the Mubarak City for Science and Applied Technology (MUCSAT).
The Chinese president had identified Egypt as a "strong contender" in the field of science and technology, and stressed the "great potential" for cooperation in human resources and industrial development. For its part Egypt is seeking to improve cooperation in the fields of oil and the peaceful use of nuclear power, as well as more Chinese direct investment in the North West Gulf of Suez industrial zone. The first two areas, together with tourism, were included in memoranda of understanding already signed during the visit. Additionally, Egypt will receive a $3.6 million grant, and a $12 million loan, earmarked for furthering technical cooperation.
As for regional and strategic concerns, Zemin, talking to Al-Ahram newspaper this week, said that the 11 September attacks had dealt a "shock to the world" and had destabilised international relations.
"The United Nations must step forward and take the lead on the world stage," he said, underlining China's opposition to any expansion of the US-led campaign against terrorism.
While supporting the call for international efforts to combat terrorism, Beijing remains uneasy about the US/Western-led call to arms and would much prefer the convening of an international conference on terrorism of the sort Egypt has been calling for for years. "Cooperation in fighting terrorism will secure better ties between countries," Mubarak told the Chinese media, "and delaying it further complicates an already complicated issue."
Mubarak is expected to present Chinese officials with the Arab perspective on Israeli hostility to the peace process and the danger it poses to stability and security in the Middle East.
"The key to resolving the conflict is a just resolution of the Palestinian issue [which means] the return of occupied Arab land," said Zemin, condemning Israel's military strikes, blockades, settlement building and targeting of Palestinian civilians. "What is needed is a commitment to signed agreements, a cease- fire, confidence-building measures and positive attitudes," he said, arguing for a relaunch of talks "as soon as possible."
Cairo wants China, as a permanent member of the Security Council, to take a stronger stand in promoting Palestinian rights. China was the only permanent member of the Security Council to vote for sending international monitors to the Palestinian territories in September 2000, a position it repeated in July 2001.
China, traditionally supportive of Arab positions, has recently strengthened its military and economic ties with Israel. However, Zemin said that China has "many times, and through different channels, urged Israel to uphold its commitments and respond positively to international efforts to [relaunch] negotiations."
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