On Tuesday afternoon, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi arrived at Cairo International Airport to receive his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping who was arriving for a two-day visit designed to mark seven decades of diplomatic ties and engage in high-level talks on the future of the strategic partnership between his country and Egypt.
In an article published in Al-Ahram Weekly, President Al-Sisi noted that “Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1956, as an extension of the civilisational and historical ties between two nations whose roots extend deep into history.”
Both old civilisations that have contributed much to humanity, Egypt and China have been investing in solidifying their relationship in the best interests of the prosperity of their two nations.
“This shared legacy reinforces the legitimate aspirations of Egypt and China to participate fully and equitably in contemporary technological progress and to benefit from its advances, which will advance comprehensive and sustainable development for the peoples of both countries and other nations, and enable Egypt and China to continue their historic contribution to the advancement of human civilisation,” the president stated.
In an article by President Xi that appeared in Al-Ahram daily on Tuesday, the Chinese president expressed his commitment to closer ties between his country and Egypt and their investment in a future that would take the old and established ties of the two countries and their strategic partnership to a new level of cooperation in the best interests of both the Egyptian and Chinese nations.
“For years, China and Egypt have proven to be reliable partners to one another and countries that work together to serve their mutual interests on a clear basis of equality and mutual confidence,” Xi wrote.
“Today, both China and Egypt are committed to working together for the stability of the international order on the basis of equality and mutual respect,” he added. He underlined the many prospects for future cooperation between the two countries that could serve their development purposes.
According to diplomatic sources, both Egyptian and foreign and Cairo-based, the statements of the two heads of state go far beyond the usual diplomatic courtesies marking the 70th anniversary of Egyptian-Chinese relations. “In reality and on the ground, we are seeing many signs of a fast-growing partnership on many fronts,” commented a Cairo-based European diplomat.
Egyptian officials note that China has been the Egyptian trading partner that has seen the most significant growth in recent years. Starting this spring, China granted Egypt full tariff exemptions for its exports to the Chinese market.
Moreover, they note that Chinese investments in Egypt have already hit the $10 billion mark and are heading towards reaching $15 billion in one to two years. They add that Egypt was at the forefront of countries issuing sustainable Panda bonds in the Chinese market.
They also listed renewable energy, electric vehicles, solar glass manufacturing, and technology localisation as areas of growing cooperation. Information technology and military cooperation have also been areas of keen cooperation between the two countries.
“I think this is where both countries will be expanding their cooperation the most,” said the Cairo-based European diplomats. China has major plans for industrial investment in Egypt in a wide range of sectors ranging from textiles to aluminum, they said, adding that “what we can see becoming the most significant for both Egypt and China is cooperation in IT and the military.”
“This puts China on the same footing with Russia that is building Egypt’s first nuclear reactor, if not ahead because when one looks at Egypt’s scope of interests today one finds much attention to IT and a marked interest in expanding military purchases away from the traditional Egypt-US framework,” one diplomat said.
According to Egyptian government sources, Egypt is keen to work with China on these issues, especially IT.
“All the countries of the region are now in the business of upscaling their IT capacity, and in reality IT is not separable from development — from agriculture to energy — or from defence,” one of the sources said. He added that what China has to offer to Egypt, as to other countries in the region, is “certainly worth our attention”.
While some of the Cairo-based foreign diplomats made remarks on US apprehensions regarding Egypt’s IT cooperation with China, Egyptian officials said that this cooperation is already in place and will expand significantly with agreements and understandings that will be concluded during Xi’s visit to Cairo this week.
Other diplomats noted possible unease on the side of both the US and Russia with regard to the growing Egyptian-Chinese military and defence cooperation that has seen joint drills and growing military purchases from Beijing.
However, Egyptian government and IT industry sources said that Egypt is keeping balanced relations with all its key partners even as it is determined to move forward with its partnership for development with China.
“China is almost a natural partner for Egypt. We agree on the need for regional stability, be it on Sudan, other parts of the Horn of Africa, Iran, Palestine-Israel, or Bab Al-Mandab,” said the same government official.
He added that the relationship with China is pragmatic and comes with no conditions attached. “As a country in the pursuit of fast-tracked development, China seems like the most natural partner for Egypt,” he added.
According to a source from the IT sector, “with the growing opportunities that AI is offering for development and with the marked progress that the Chinese company Huawei has been making on this front, the cooperation will certainly expand on data centres as well as on other fronts.”
“China is a growing IT and AI partner of many African and Arab countries, and for both Cairo and Beijing their joint cooperation is purposeful. This is why so many young engineers in Africa and the Arab world are keen to learn Chinese,” he added.
According to academics at several universities in Egypt, the growing trade and tourism relations between Egypt and China have stimulated a spike in the number of Egyptians who are pursuing academic degrees or post university courses in the Chinese language, with over 15 universities now having Chinese language departments.
Chinese students coming to Egypt to learn Arabic have also been on the increase.
In addition to discussing politics, the economy, and defence, during his two-day visit to Cairo, Xi is scheduled to be engaged in site-seeing, including a visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum. The president of China arrives in Egypt from Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, which hosted the 26th summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Monday and Tuesday.
This is Xi’s first visit to Egypt in 10 years.
Al-Sisi and Xi have met several times since 2014, when Al-Sisi became president. In addition to encounters on the sidelines of groups such as the BRICS group of countries or the G20, the two heads of state have had several bilateral meetings, including a visit by President Al-Sisi to China a few months after he took office in 2014.
The most recent meeting of the two leaders occurred in May this year on the sidelines of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. They are expected to meet again next year at the China-Africa Cooperation Forum.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 3 September, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
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