International critical commentary丨After 70 years of being together through thick and thin, how can China-Egypt relations carry forward the past and open up the future?
"This is a historic state visit" "gives the traditional friendship between Egypt and China a new significance of the times" "the two countries are moving forward hand in hand on an ever-widening road of cooperation"... All walks of life in Egypt spoke highly of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Egypt from September 1 to 2. During the visit, the two heads of state held talks and reached broad consensus. President Xi Jinping put forward five proposals on continuously promoting the construction of a community with a shared future between China and Egypt. President Sisi said that Egypt is committed to promoting the greater development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
This is President Xi Jinping’s second state visit to Egypt after 10 years. It coincides with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt, and has special significance of building on the past and forging ahead into the future. Egypt welcomes distinguished guests from China with high standards of courtesy. President Sisi called President Xi a "good friend" during the meeting, demonstrating the deep friendship between the two heads of state. They jointly drew up a blueprint for the development of China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership, and jointly witnessed the signing of multiple cooperation documents in the fields of jointly building the "Belt and Road", artificial intelligence, economy and trade, and industry and supply chain cooperation; the two sides also issued a joint statement on further deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership... President Xi Jinping's visit has achieved fruitful results and is of milestone significance in promoting the development of China-Egypt relations.
On the morning of September 2, local time, Egyptian President Sisi held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Palace of the Sun in Cairo.
Tang Zhichao, deputy director of the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the International Critical Review that President Xi’s visit not only charted the course for the future of China-Egypt relations, but also continued the traditional friendship between China and Egypt, China and Afghanistan, and injected strong momentum into unity and cooperation in the global South. Hassenin Fahmy Hussein, head of the Chinese Department of Ain Shams University in Egypt, said: "President Xi quoted an Egyptian proverb in his signed article, 'If you drink the water of the Nile, you will definitely come back again', which makes me feel very warm. I hope that our two countries will continue to support each other, forge ahead, and work together. Create a better future.” Hale Jade, Director of the Information, Documentation and Translation Department of the League of Arab States Secretariat, said that President Xi’s visit reflects China’s firm support for the further development of Egypt-China, Arab-China, and Africa-China relations, and is crucial to regional and global security and development.
Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, the first Arab country to write the goal of building a community with a shared future into the joint statement on bilateral relations, and the first developing country to establish strategic relations with China. Over the past 70 years, no matter how the international and regional situation changes, China-Egypt relations have always remained on the right track, remained unchanged, and maintained undiminished momentum, becoming a model for developing countries to live in harmony, unite and cooperate.
Currently, both China and Egypt are at a critical stage of development and revitalization. China's "15th Five-Year Plan" has made a good start, and the construction of Egypt's "New Republic" is in full swing. The two countries have gone hand in hand for 70 years. In the face of the turbulent international and regional situations, how can we continue to promote the construction of a community with a shared future between China and Egypt?
"Strong mutual support", "Promote mutually beneficial cooperation", "Promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges", "Strengthen security cooperation" and "Strengthen international multilateral collaboration" - President Xi's five-point proposition points out the direction for the future development of China-Egypt relations. Egypt's "Al-Ahram" website published an article on the 2nd saying that as a developing country, Egypt must actively seek cooperation from all parties in order to achieve economic prosperity. In this regard, developing relations with China is undoubtedly a top priority.
Political mutual trust is the cornerstone of China-Egypt relations. Over the past decade, President Xi Jinping and President Sisi have met many times, leading the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership to achieve leapfrog development. During this visit, President Xi stressed firm mutual support and maintained the momentum of high-level exchanges; President Sisi said that Egypt firmly adheres to the one-China principle. President Xi Jinping also invited President Sisi to visit China. President Sisi accepted the invitation and promised to visit China at his convenience. The leadership and leadership of the two heads of state have provided strategic guidance for the long-term development of China-Egypt relations.
Economic and trade cooperation is a strong driving force for bilateral relations. China has been Egypt's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, with bilateral trade volume reaching US$20.79 billion in 2025. Egypt is also one of the first countries to participate in the joint construction of the “Belt and Road Initiative”. In May this year, Egyptian fresh oranges became the first batch of African products to enter the Chinese market by taking advantage of China’s zero-tariff “through train” for Africa. In the first seven months of this year, China's imports of Egyptian agricultural products increased by 82.6% year-on-year.
During this visit, President Xi pointed out that the potential for cooperation in traditional fields such as infrastructure construction, electric power, agriculture, and communication technology should be released, and new highlights of cooperation in green energy, electric vehicles, aerospace, digital economy, and modern agricultural technology should be created. The two-way development of traditional fields and emerging tracks will further broaden the scope of China-Egypt pragmatic cooperation. Ali Shifni, vice president of the Egypt-China Friendship Association, said he looks forward to further expanding cooperation between Egypt and China, especially in high-tech fields such as artificial intelligence and robotics, so that China's development experience can further benefit Egypt and the entire region.
Mutual learning among civilizations is an important bond between the two countries. China and Egypt are both countries with ancient civilizations, and there are many highlights in cultural exchanges. In 2025, there will be more than 300,000 Chinese tourists visiting Egypt. The "Ancient Egyptian Civilization Exhibition" held by the Shanghai Museum will receive nearly 3 million visitors, and Chinese language teaching will be implemented in more than 40 middle schools in Egypt. The performance of Egyptian actors in the movie "Welcome to the Dragon", which is currently being screened in China, has been widely praised. China proposed this time to comprehensively expand exchanges and cooperation in culture, education, science and technology, health, sports, etc., and expand personnel exchanges. The two heads of state and their spouses also visited the Grand Egyptian Museum together. The two civilizations have traveled in both directions across time and space for a long time, and continue to write chapters of friendship between the two peoples for generations.
On the afternoon of September 2, local time, President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan visited the Grand Egyptian Museum accompanied by Egyptian President Sisi and his wife Itizar.
As major developing countries and important countries in the Global South, China and Egypt share common goals and pursuits in maintaining international order, advocating fairness and justice, and practicing multilateralism. During this visit, the two heads of state had in-depth communication on the situation in the Middle East. President Xi proposed a four-point initiative on "building a new security architecture in the Middle East," emphasizing "stimulating the endogenous power of regional common security," "promoting comprehensive governance of regional common security," "building a solid foundation for the development of regional common security," and "enhancing international coordination for regional common security." Analysts believe that these four-point initiative clarifies the path and direction of building a new security architecture in the Middle East. It is an extension and development of the four-point proposition previously proposed by President Xi Jinping on maintaining and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East. It further contributes Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the political settlement of the Middle East crisis.
Having been together through thick and thin for seventy years, the development of China-Egypt relations has reached a new starting point. Looking into the future, China and Egypt will serve as a role model for inheriting friendship, a benchmark for joint development, an example for civilizational exchanges, a pioneer in safeguarding fairness and justice, and a leader in China-Arab-China cooperation. We will continue to promote the construction of a community with a shared future between China and Egypt and inject positive energy into a turbulent and changing world.
(International critical commentator)
Source: CCTV News Client
