The editorial, republished the same day by People’s Daily Online with Global Times credited as the source, coincided with a CGTN feature marking a decade of growth at the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, which Xi and President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expanded during Xi’s last visit to Cairo in January 2016.
Together, the two pieces portrayed Xi’s first return to Egypt in a decade as evidence that a relationship dating back to 1956 continues to produce tangible results.
"For seven decades, the China-Egypt relationship has braved wind and rain, and withstood the test of the changing international landscape," the Global Times editorial said, describing the two countries as "close brothers who have weathered storms together" whose ties had "stayed on the right course, remained robust as ever."
The editorial traced that resilience back to the 1955 Bandung Conference, where it said China and Egypt “jointly championed Asian-African solidarity,” and to Chinese support during Egypt’s struggle to regain sovereignty over the Suez Canal.
It cited a Global Times Institute poll released at the end of August, in which 94 percent of Chinese respondents said they wanted deeper cultural and social exchanges with Egypt, and 82 percent called Egypt an important partner for China in the Arab world and Africa.
On culture, the editorial pointed to “The Civilization of Ancient Egypt,” an exhibition at the Shanghai Museum, and Chinese-language classes now offered in more than 40 Egyptian middle schools as signs that the relationship extends beyond government circles.
It also pointed to recent economic milestones as evidence of the close ties. Egypt issued the first sustainable Panda bond from the Middle East and North Africa, worth $500 million, in October 2023, backed by the African Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
It also cited this year's trade opening. China fully exempted Egyptian exports from tariffs starting in May, and Egyptian oranges became the first Egyptian goods cleared under the new policy.
Military cooperation also featured. Chinese and Egyptian pilots held “Eagles of Civilization 2026,” the second joint air exercise between the two air forces, at bases across Egypt starting on 22 August.
Space cooperation was also highlighted. China funded Egypt’s Assembly, Integration and Testing Centre for satellites through grants of $45 million in 2018 and $72 million in 2019. The centre was handed over to Egypt on 28 February 2024, and the editorial credited the cooperation with giving Egypt “full in-house capabilities for satellite assembly, integration, and testing.”
The editorial said the two countries were deepening coordination through the United Nations, the BRICS grouping, the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, describing them as "reliable partners that join hands in realizing modernization."
The CGTN feature, a 23-minute on-the-ground report by four China Media Group correspondents, revisited the Suez zone's growth in detail, calling it "a landmark of cooperation that aligns China's Belt and Road Initiative with Egypt's Vision 2030."
Chinese investment in the zone has surpassed $3 billion, SCZone chairman Walid Gamal El-Din said in December 2024.
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 10th anniversary of that partnership, during El-Sisi's most recent trip to Beijing.
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