Factbox: Key outcomes of Chinese President Xi Jinping visit to Egypt
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day state visit to Egypt, his first in a decade and concluded on Wednesday, focused on expanding the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership, deepening economic cooperation and strengthening coordination on regional issues.
Egyptian and Chinese officials said that more than 20 cooperation documents were signed on the sidelines, but a complete official list has not yet been published.
Documents signed during Xi’s Egypt visit
- Memorandum on cooperation priorities under Egypt Vision 2030 and the Belt and Road Initiative, signed by Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Zheng Shanjie, chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission.
- Agreement on economic and technical cooperation, signed by Abdelatty and Chen Xiaodong, chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency.
- Memorandum on industrial and supply-chain cooperation, signed by Egyptian Investment and Foreign Trade Minister Mohamed Farid and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.
- Memorandum on information-technology cooperation, signed by Egyptian Communications and Information Technology Minister Raafat Hendy and a senior official of China’s National Development and Reform Commission.
- Memorandum between the Suez Canal Economic Zone and China’s Ministry of Commerce on expanding cooperation in the zone and its Chinese-developed industrial area.
- More than 20 additional cooperation documents covering technology, finance, the digital economy and other sectors. The detailed titles and texts of these documents were not immediately released.
Related announcements and agreements
The two leaders also witnessed or endorsed several broader outcomes:
- Expansion of the China-Egypt industrial zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, including agreement to launch its third phase.
- Renewal and increase of the bilateral currency-swap arrangement, with the joint statement welcoming its expansion.
- Preliminary agreement by ZC Rubber Group to study a tyre-manufacturing complex worth approximately $500 million. This appears to be a company-level preliminary agreement rather than a government treaty.
- Egyptian Mansour Group and China’s Tianneng signed an MoU concerning electric-vehicle battery manufacturing, according to reporting linked to the visit.
- The two sides announced deeper cooperation in artificial intelligence, data centres, semiconductors, cybersecurity, critical-mineral supply chains, renewable energy, electric vehicles, shipbuilding, desalination and digital transformation. These were primarily cooperation priorities and commitments in the joint statement, not necessarily separate signed contracts.
- Chinese agricultural technology firm FAMSUN inked an agreement with Egyptian private agricultural commodity trading firm Cairo 3A to expand cooperation on agriculture, grain handling, food processing, security and industrial manufacturing, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
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The presidents issued the Joint Statement on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the People’s Republic of China.” It records political commitments and cooperation priorities, including:
- Continued implementation of the Belt and Road cooperation plan.
- Support for the development of the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
- Cooperation in renewable-energy projects, AI and digital transformation.
- Promotion of Chinese investment and industrial localisation in Egypt.
- Greater use of the two countries’ local currencies in trade and investment.
- Support for Egyptian exports entering the Chinese market.
- Stronger cooperation in security, counterterrorism and law enforcement.
- Coordination on Gaza, Sudan, Red Sea security and other regional issues.
- China’s recognition of the Nile’s vital importance to Egypt and support for Egypt’s right to protect its water and food security.
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