China's President Xi Jinping attends a SCO+ format meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek. AFP
The wave of coverage from CGTN, Xinhua, People's Daily Online, and China's State Council Information Office marked the 70th anniversary of China-Egypt diplomatic relations and Xi's first trip to Cairo in a decade.
It was capped by a rare exchange of signed opinion articles: Presidents Xi and Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi each wrote for the other's state media, both crediting seven decades of cooperation with delivering concrete gains in trade, investment, and shared development goals.
A CGTN feature published Monday, "From the Nile to the Yellow River: 70 Years, Two Civilizations with a Shared Future," described the two countries as building "a community with a shared future for the new era with China."
It noted that Egypt was the first Arab country to include that exact phrase in a bilateral joint statement, highlighting cultural ties that Beijing has promoted since the two countries signed a Chinese-language protocol for Egyptian schools.
The CGTN feature was also the most detailed on economic achievements, citing more than 200 enterprises operating in the TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, with $4.7 billion in investment and $7.3 billion in sales, and more than 10,000 jobs created there.
It highlighted flagship projects including the 385.8-metre Iconic Tower, the 10th of Ramadan light-rail line, a $600 million, 1.1-gigawatt Obelisk solar plant, and the MISRSAT-2 satellite.
The exchange of opinion articles was the visit's signature gesture. Xi's signed article was published in Egyptian media on Tuesday and carried across Chinese outlets, with Xinhua, People's Daily Online, Guangming Online, and the State Council Information Office all reprinting the same piece.
In his own article, carried by China Daily, El-Sisi wrote that Egypt was "the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with China" in 1956, pointing to Chinese investment in the Suez Canal Economic Zone and naming electric vehicles, energy-storage batteries, and renewable energy among the energy and EV plans the two countries are pursuing.
An earlier round of coverage on 27 and 28 August celebrated the relationship's civilizational depth, tying the visit to Xi's 2023 Global Civilization Initiative and his only previous trip to Egypt, a January 2016 stop in Luxor.
Those Xinhua pieces presented China and Egypt, as fellow ancient civilizations, as a model for how nations can cooperate while respecting their distinct identities.
Coverage extended beyond bilateral ties, too. A State Council Information Office analysis published Friday placed the Cairo stop within Xi's wider trip: a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan came first, and both visits were credited with "energizing" global cooperation.
Commentaries also pointed to Egypt's BRICS membership. Egypt joined the bloc's New Development Bank in 2024, as another marker of the two countries' shared priorities.
The positive coverage extended beyond Chinese state outlets, too. Shanghai-based analyst Nelson Wong wrote in Middle East Eye that the relationship reflects "pragmatic economic delivery" rather than great-power competition, echoing the emphasis on concrete cooperation running through the state coverage.
The celebratory coverage came as Xi's visit got underway in Cairo, where authorities announced traffic diversions around the presidential motorcade's route on Tuesday.
Egypt recognized the People's Republic of China in May 1956, becoming the first Arab and African country to do so.
Ties were elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2014, and President El-Sisi and Xi marked the Partnership Year launch in May 2024, the partnership's 10th anniversary, during El-Sisi's most recent trip to Beijing.
Xi's only prior visit to Cairo, in January 2016, included a stop in Luxor that launched the China-Egypt Culture Year.
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