CAIRO, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian businessmen on Wednesday hailed China's social and economic development and its friendly relations with African countries.

At a promotion session of China Import and Export Fair (also renowned as the Canton Fair), Talaat Ahmed El Kawass, First Deputy of Cairo Chamber of Commerce, said that China has achieved rapid economic development in the past decades.

"As an ancient civilized country like Egypt, China attached great importance to its relations with African countries," he noted.

He added that Cairo Chamber of Commerce pays much attention to sending delegations to international fairs all over the world and promoting its relations with China.

"For the first time, Cairo Chamber of Commerce will send a delegation to attend the Canton Fair this year, one of the largest trade fair in China," Kawass noted, hailing the good quality of Chinese products.

He also expected to further improve the imbalance of the Egyptian-Chinese bilateral trade which is in China's favor.

According to China's official statistics, the bilateral trade between China and Egypt reached 4.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2007, a 44-percent year-on-year increase. Among which, China imported 240 million dollars from Egypt, while exported 4.36 billion dollars to Egypt.

For his part, Mustafa El Agawany, an Egyptian importer of Industrial Machines also hailed the quality of China's equipment.

Wang Junwen, Director General of China Foreign Trade Center, made the introduction to the upcoming 103th Canton Fair to be held on April 15-30 in China's southern city of Guangzhou.

Since its inauguration in 1957, Canton Fair has been held every spring and autumn and won its reputation of "China's No. 1 fair" for its exhibition space of 840,000 square meters.

Source: Xinhua