The year 2006 was by all means a historic year in relations between Egypt and China, said Egyptian Ambassador Mahmoud Allam M. Allam on Saturday.

"Egypt-China relations experienced impressive progress in the year. Various fields of cooperation have been defined and concrete actions to enhance them have been taken to sustain a solid path of progress in the strategic partnership between our two nations," said the ambassador.

Ambassador Allam told Chinadaily.com.cn in an exclusive interview that in the year of 2006 Egypt and China celebrated the golden jubilee - 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, when Egypt became the first Arab and African Nation to recognize the People's Republic of China.

"The progressive development of relations in the fields of trade, investment, energy, transport, constructions, IT and communications is really impressive. And the China-Africa forum, held in November, will provide a significant impetus to cooperation with Egypt, a leading African nation and a pioneer of cooperation with China," Allam said.

"The progress was crowned and particularly consolidated by the visits of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Egypt last June and of Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak to China last November, the ninth of its kind.

During Mubarak's visit, the cooperation partnership was consolidated through the signing of MOUs in the fields of development finance, health, economic and technical cooperation and investment promotion. And for the first time in bilateral history, Egypt and China signed an MOU for cooperation between the Egyptian Red Crescent Society and the Chinese Red Cross.

China and Egypt, as two major developing countries, forged their diplomatic relations in 1956 and set up a model of the south-south cooperation in the past 50 years.

His meeting with President Hu Jintao was certainly a landmark in the relations between the nations. The visit offered high-level insight and perspective elaborated by both leaders to guide and inspire the progressive development of a strategic pattern of relationship and partnership between both nations, Allam said.

"As ambassador to China, I have a better chance to witness closely an impressive phenomenon, which is observed with great interest by the whole world, the peaceful progressive rise of China," he said.

"China has set its priorities, fixed its targets and ways to achieve them, put those means to action, and would realize its objectives goals of sustainable growth. The Chinese people have successfully merged its great culture and civilization in its rising march towards modernization and progress," he said.

The ambassador said he wishes the Chinese people more progressive steps in its peaceful and solid advance towards prosperity. Also, he wished good preparations would be made for the Olympics in 2007, a year crucial year to ensure the success of the Games in 2008."