CAIRO - Chinese President Xi Jinping started Wednesday his visit to Egypt, a country to which his last trip dates back to 16 years ago and which now looks forward to boarding the development train of the world's second largest economy.

Xi's visit is aimed at aligning the development plans of the two nations.

CHINA'S PARTICIPATION

"My visit to Egypt is to cement and deepen the China-Egypt relationship in an all-round way, and advance practical cooperation between our two nations for new achievements," Xi said when meeting Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail shortly after his arrival in Cairo in the afternoon.

The Chinese government encourages and supports qualified enterprises to participate in large-scale projects in Egypt, Xi said.

He proposed that the two sides make more efforts to synergize their development strategies and step up cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to translate their consensus into concrete results as soon as possible.

Prior to Xi's visit, experts from both countries have agreed that as Egypt eyes a series of mega projects, the new Suez Canal for instance, to revitalize the economy, China's experience could certainly help.

"China stands ready to boost cooperation with Egypt in infrastructure construction and continue pushing ahead industrial capacity cooperation," the president said.

Words have already been put into practice. China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co., Ltd said it had reached a deal with its Egyptian partner to build a 1,210 km power transmission line at 500 KV in the southeast of the Nile Delta in Egypt.

As the largest project of its kind in Egypt, the line will be used to transmit electricity for three gas-fired power plants and one nuclear power station, the company, which attended the China Science and Technology Exhibition in Cairo on Wednesday, told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, China's CGC Overseas Construction Group is working to combine China's agricultural technology, Egypt's natural resources and global capital to help the North African country develop agriculture on the west side of the Nile, the company told Xinhua at the exhibition.

Children wave Egyptian and Chinese national flags at the welcome ceremony held by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Cairo, January 21, 2016. [Photo by Xing Zhigang/chinadaily.com.cn]