CAIRO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cai Mingzhao, president of China's Xinhua News Agency, met here on Tuesday in separate meetings with top executives of key Egyptian media outlets, and they agreed to commit themselves to even broader and deeper cooperation.
In his talks with Chairman of the Board of Al Ahram Foundation Ahmed El-Sayed El-Nagger, Cai said Xinhua and Al Ahram have enjoyed long-term friendly cooperation, while he intends through his visit to further deepen it.
The Xinhua president's trip to Egypt came at the time when Chinese President Xi Jinping is about to pay his first state visit to the most populous Arab nation and the Middle East region.
Cai said Xi's visit to Egypt will surely open a new chapter for bilateral ties, bringing real benefits to the two peoples, adding that the two media groups should seek even broader and deeper cooperation so as to promote mutual understanding between the Chinese and the Egyptians.
He also believed that the two news bodies should work together in delivering quality economic information service with the aim of meeting the needs of the developing economies that seek investment and business opportunities.
Last July, Xinhua launched new information services focusing on providing economic and financial information for investors in the Belt and Road Initiative. the service is committed to offering quality information to facilitate policy communication, trade, financial and cultural exchanges within the Belt and Road region.
The core product of the new service is Xinhua Silk Road, which includes the Silk Road Database, Xinhua Credit Reports, Consulting & Thinktank Services and an interactive and business match-making Xinhua Silk Road IM System.
For his part, Nagger said while the two nations have established a strategic partnership, his newspaper also wants to have such a kind of relationship with Xinhua.
In his meeting with Alaa Heidar, board chairman and editor in chief of MENA, Egypt official news agency, Cai said Xinhua values its cooperation with MENA, and hopes to further boost their partnership.
He also said that the two news agencies, both leading press of the two countries, should play a key role in covering the stories of the two countries, instead of relying on the Western media for news reporting and information.
Heidar said MENA would like to strength cooperation with Xinhua, especially in areas like personnel training and economic information service.