The Chinese President’s visit to Egypt for the sake of strategic partnership and opening horizons for economic cooperation

Within the framework of economic cooperation, the attention of regional and international political and economic circles is turning towards Cairo, which is receiving Chinese President Xi Jinping on an official visit extending until September 3, 2026.

The Chinese President is scheduled to meet with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. This is to discuss ways to strengthen relations strategic partnership between the two countries in various fields of common interest, as well as exchanging views on a number of regional and international issues.

This visit culminates a rich path of extended cooperation, and embodies the depth of the exceptional strategic partnership that brings together Egypt and… China; Which opens up prospects for economic cooperation between them, under the umbrella of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Harvest of a decade of strategic partnership

The Chinese President’s visit to Egypt is of special strategic importance. As it comes in preparation for commemorating the seventieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries (1956 – 2026). This visit expresses a prominent historical milestone that culminates an extended path that has witnessed the transformation of relations between Cairo and Beijing over the decades from the framework of traditional friendship and cooperation to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership.

The anticipated summit is based on a solid foundation of understandings and meetings that have been built over the past years. The total number of presidential visits and meetings between the two leaderships during the period from 2014 to 2024 reachedAbout 11 major meetings and summits.

This period witnessed a number of mutual visits and prominent international meetings, including:

Visits of the President of the Republic to China

• December 2014 (Beijing): An official visit that witnessed the signing of the “Declaration of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”
• September 2015 (Beijing): Bilateral discussions to activate transport, railway and energy projects, and to link the Suez Canal region to the Belt and Road Initiative.
• September 2016 (Hangzhou): Egypt’s participation as a special guest in the Group of Twenty (G20) summit.
• September 2017 (Xiamen): ShareEgypt at the BRICS summit and the emerging markets dialogue.
• September 2018 (Beijing): Participation in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (SFOCACS) Summit and signing project contracts worth $18.3 billion.
• April 2019 (Beijing): Participation in the second session of the “Belt and Road Forum”.
• February 2022 (Beijing): A bilateral summit on the sidelines of the opening of the Winter Olympics, to coordinate health cooperation and confront supply chain disruptions.
• May 2024 (Beijing): The visit witnessed the declaration of 2024 as the “Year of the Egyptian-Chinese Partnership,” and the issuance of a joint statement to deepen cooperation.

Chinese President’s visits to Egypt

• January 2016 (Cairo): A historic official visit by President Xi Jinping on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, which witnessed the signing of 21 agreements with investments exceeding $15 billion.

Meetings in international forums

• December 2022 (Riyadh – Saudi Arabia): A bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the first Arab-Chinese summit to support collective action frameworks.
• October 2024 (Kazan – Russia): A bilateral summit on the sidelines of the BRICS summit following Egypt’s official accession to the group.

Therefore, this cumulative outcome proves that Egyptian-Chinese relations have moved into a comprehensive strategic partnership based on expanding economic and investment cooperation, development and infrastructure, and enhancing coordination in international and regional frameworks.

Economic cooperation files

Also, the Chinese President’s visit comes within a geopolitical and economic context aimed at raising levels of productive and technological cooperation, and supporting trade and financial partnership.

What makes this clear is that the volume of non-oil trade exchange between the two countries in the first half of this year amounted to about 11.04 billion dollars, accounting for about 15% of Egypt’s total non-oil trade, amounting to 73.6 billion dollars.

Egyptian imports from China continued to top the list of imports, recording $10.438 billion, an annual increase of 25.65%. On the other hand, Egyptian exports to China witnessed a significant jump of 111.5% to reach about 600 million dollars, compared to 284 million dollars in the same period last year, representing about 2.35% of the total Egyptian non-oil exports amounting to 25.508 billion dollars.

Specifically, Egyptian exports are mainly based on citrus fruits and fruits (Egyptian oranges), liquefied natural gas, linen and cotton textiles, while imports include:

• Machines and Electronics
• Mobile phones
• Transportation means and spare parts
• Chemicals

The summit also aims to deepen cooperation in several development and investment fields, including:

Industry and Technology

Expanding investments and economic cooperation in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, localizing the manufacture of electric cars and solar energy components, and expanding data center technology and artificial intelligence in cooperation with major Chinese companies.

Infrastructure and sustainable transport

Follow up on the development of the central business district in the new capital, the light rail train (LRT) projects, and the modernization of the national electricity network and sea ports.

Financial and Sustainable Cooperation

Activating currency exchange agreementsLocally to facilitate trade movement and enhance development financing through the New Development Bank of the BRICS bloc.

In the end, the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping represents a pivotal step that promotes a promising future that deepens economic cooperation between the two countries. The next few hours of the visit will reveal signed agreements and development commitments, especially since Egypt is a strategic gateway to Africa and the Middle East region, in addition to the importance of the Suez Canal in the global trade movement.

This is what The Earth Guards Foundation will work to follow up on, realizing the necessity of such global summits to reconsider pressing issues at the economic level, and the positive social transformations it brings that benefit current and future generations.