A Chinese naval fleet on Wednesday crossed the Suez Canal during its round-the-world voyage, the first in the Chinese Navy's history.
The fleet, composed of a missile guided destroyer, the Qingdao, and a supply ship, the Taicang, is expected to take up a berth at the northern Egyptian port city of Alexandria on Friday to start a five-day visit to Egypt.
The two vessels, led by Ding Yiping, commander of the North China Sea Fleet, weighed anchor at a naval port in China's eastern port city of Qingdao on May 15.
The warships with more than 500 crew members on board were designed and built in China.
( June 13, 2002)
