Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi held talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday in Beijing, where they discussed economic and investment cooperation between the two countries in addition to a number of other issues, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

El-Sisi arrived on Wednesday in China’s capital at the invitation of the Chinese president to attend the ‘Belt and Road’ summit, which is being attending by a number of heads of state.

According to the statement, the two leaders discussed ways to support the Belt and Road initiative in the Arab world and Africa, especially during Egypt’s chairmanship of the African Union in 2019.

President El-Sisi stressed the importance of the Belt and Road initiative, especially since it aimed to boost development to realise the aspirations of people around the world to achieve stability and prosperity.

This is the sixth visit by El-Sisi to China in five years.

El-Sisi also said he looks forward to seeing the Chinese government take more steps to encourage Egyptian non-oil exports to the Chinese market to close the gap in the balance of trade between the two countries.

The Chinese president praised the recent achievements made in development and megaprojects in Egypt as well as the country’s economic reforms.

President Xi also praised the progress made in achieving security and stability in Egypt, adding that Chinese companies have been encouraged to work in Egypt due to the promising investment opportunities.

The talks also involved a number of issues related to Egyptian-Chinese relations in different fields, including economic, commercial, investment and security relations.

The two leaders also agreed on the importance of reaching political solutions to the conflicts in the Middle East region.

Meanwhile, in an interview with MENA news agency on Thursday, China's ambassador to Cairo Song Aiguo said that Egypt is an important country in the Belt and Road intiative and plays an important role in boosting regional economic cooperation.