Syria and China decided to boost two-way trade during a visit here Saturday by a Chinese economic delegation, the official news agency SANA reported. The Chinese announced in talks with Syria's deputy economic and foreign trade minister, Fuad Sayyed, that a six-million-dollar loan would soon be granted to Damascus for economic and technical assistance.
The aid will be handed over during a forthcoming visit to China by the Syrian deputy prime minister in charge of services, Naji Otri, a Chinese diplomatic source told AFP. He said the two countries at their talks, led on the Chinese side by a senior foreign trade ministry official, also decided to promote exchanges of visits by business delegations.
Two-way trade, worth around $200 million in 1999, is tipped in favor of China, notably exports of its electronic goods. Chinese companies are involved in two key projects in Syria — the construction of a cotton mill in Jableh on the coast and a hydroelectric plant in the Ghuta region near the capital. — (AFP, Damascus)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
