The op-ed was published as Egypt's presidency said El-Sisi and Xi would "deliberate on avenues for further strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries" during the visit, Xi's only bilateral state visit on his 2026 foreign itinerary and his first trip to Cairo in a decade.
It set out Cairo's priorities for the meeting: expanding Chinese industrial investment, aligning Egypt's Global South diplomacy with Beijing's, and securing continued Chinese backing for Egypt's position on the Nile.
Xi's visit began Tuesday and runs through Wednesday. It is his first trip to Egypt since 2016, and comes as the two countries mark seven decades of diplomatic ties.
In the op-ed, titled "Together for a More Prosperous Future for the Egyptian and Chinese Peoples and Humanity," El-Sisi credited Chinese firms with helping build the Central Business District towers in the New Capital and an electric railway line to 10th of Ramadan City, largely through investment in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, part of what Egyptian officials have called a new chapter in ties with Beijing.
He said Egypt and China share "a common commitment to harnessing the synergies" between Cairo's industrial localization strategy and Beijing's high-quality development strategy, listing electric vehicles, energy-storage batteries, renewable energy, electronics, seawater-desalination components, and shipbuilding as priority sectors for the visit to advance.
On the Nile, El-Sisi said Egypt "will remain steadfast in advocating for transboundary cooperation in accordance with the principles and rules of international law, rather than unilateral approaches that result in harm to downstream states."
He called for water-sharing decisions to rest on "prior notification, consultations, and consensus among riparian states." He thanked Beijing for "its recognition of the vital importance of the Nile River to Egypt as its principal lifeline."
He also pointed to Egypt's role in developing the wider Nile Basin, citing Cairo's support for water-resources projects and dam construction "including in the Sudan and Uganda."
He singled out Egypt's "contribution to the mega-project of the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project in Tanzania" as its most recent such effort.
El-Sisi described "strategic balance" as "a guiding principle of Egyptian foreign policy," citing Cairo's 2024 accession to BRICS, its BRICS New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and its status as a Shanghai Cooperation Organization dialogue partner.
He congratulated China on assuming the BRICS presidency next year and said Egypt "looks forward to continued coordination and consultation with China" on the bloc's agenda.
El-Sisi said Egypt has "consistently adhered to the One-China principle and rejected interference in China's internal affairs" and had backed "the restoration of China's permanent seat" on the UN Security Council.
He credited Cairo's 1956 recognition of Beijing with paving the way for wider Arab and African engagement with China, "culminating in the establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation."
On regional conflicts, El-Sisi wrote that Egypt and China "agree on the necessity of resolving conflicts through peaceful means, taking into consideration the security concerns of all parties, and respecting the sovereignty of states."
He pointed to shared support for "the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state," a position Beijing reaffirmed when the UN General Assembly backed a two-state resolution in September 2025.
El-Sisi's article appeared alongside a companion piece by Xi in the same Tuesday edition of Al-Ahram, a customary exchange between leaders ahead of state visits. Xi's prior Cairo visit in January 2016 saw him address Egypt's newly elected parliament.
El-Sisi traced the relationship to a "historic trade route" linking the Chinese Silk Road to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, which he called "the lifeline of global trade."
Egyptian ports, he wrote, served for centuries as "major commercial hubs for the exchange of goods among Asia, Europe, and Africa," laying the groundwork for the countries' diplomatic ties.
He also cast the relationship in civilizational terms, likening the Nile, "the birthplace of Egyptian civilisation," to the Yangtze, "the cradle of Chinese civilization." Egyptian advances in "medicine, engineering, and astronomy," he wrote, developed alongside Chinese innovations that helped "lay foundations for the Industrial and Technological Revolutions."
Egypt recognized the People's Republic of China on 30 May 1956, becoming the first Arab and African country, and the 23rd worldwide, to do so.
Relations were elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2014, during El-Sisi's first state visit to Beijing, and the two presidents marked the 10th anniversary of that upgrade with a dedicated Egypt-China Partnership Year in May 2024.
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