China, Egypt Deepen Strategic Partnership in Xi Visit
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi agreed to deepen their countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership during a state visit to Cairo on September 1–2, signing dozens of cooperation documents and issuing a joint statement that reaffirms their alignment on trade, technology, and regional security, according to the official readout of the talks.
The visit, Xi’s first to Egypt in a decade, coincided with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Egypt was the first Arab and African nation to establish ties with the People’s Republic of China in 1956, a distinction both leaders invoked throughout the visit.
A Partnership Framed by History
In a joint statement published September 3, the two sides described their relationship as having “weathered challenges” and developed “distinctive features of equality and mutual trust, friendship and mutual learning, solidarity and mutual support, as well as win-win cooperation,” language Xi also used in his public remarks. The Xinhua analysis, citing Chinese scholars, put the number of cooperation documents signed at more than 30, spanning infrastructure, the digital economy, science and technology, education, and transportation.
The full text of the joint statement commits both governments to continued high-level exchanges, deeper alignment between China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Egypt’s “Vision 2030” development plan, and expanded cooperation in electric vehicles, shipbuilding, solar and wind energy, desalination, cloud computing, data centers, semiconductors, cybersecurity, and aerospace applications.
On the financial side, the two countries agreed to renew and expand their local currency swap arrangement and to encourage greater use of local currencies in trade and investment settlement — a step that could reduce reliance on the US dollar in bilateral commerce.
Trade and Investment at Record Levels
China has been Egypt’s largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years. Bilateral trade reached US$20.79 billion in 2025, a record high, according to figures cited by Liu Xinlu, vice president of Beijing Foreign Studies University, in the Xinhua analysis that prompted this coverage.
The China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone at Ain Sokhna, a flagship Belt and Road project, has attracted more than 200 enterprises with cumulative investment exceeding US$4.7 billion, Liu said. Al Jazeera reported that the zone hosts about 200 companies with investments exceeding $3.8 billion, citing Egyptian state media — a discrepancy that likely reflects differing reporting dates or definitions.
Egypt’s control of the Suez Canal gives it outsized strategic value to Beijing, particularly as shipping disruptions in the Bab el-Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz have made alternative routes more critical. Chinese companies have also invested in container ports, green hydrogen, iron pipes, tires, and satellites, according to Al Jazeera.
A New Middle East Security Proposal
The centerpiece of Xi’s diplomatic message was a four-point proposal on building a “new security architecture in the Middle East,” the most comprehensive elaboration of a concept he first raised in 2018.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry readout, Xi called for the region’s people to “remain masters of their own affairs,” rejected external interference, and urged a comprehensive approach to the region’s interconnected hotspots. He stated that “the Palestinian issue remains at the core of the Middle East question and should never be overlooked or marginalized,” and called on the international community — “especially external powers” — to abandon double standards and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of regional countries.
Sisi said Egypt “highly appreciates China’s consistent, objective, and impartial stance on the Middle East question” and expressed readiness to work with China to ease regional tensions and explore a regional security architecture.
The joint statement also addressed the Nile, with China expressing understanding of the river’s importance to Egypt and Egypt’s legitimate rights on water and food security — language relevant to Egypt’s long-running dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Both sides called on all Nile basin states to abide by international law.
Egypt’s Balancing Act
Analysts caution against reading the deepening ties as a wholesale Egyptian pivot away from the United States. Egypt is a key US ally and the second-largest recipient of American military aid.
Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that “China is trying to position itself as an increasingly important economic and diplomatic actor in that environment, particularly as a counterweight to the US, as a more responsible and more hands-off regional actor.”
But Pinfold said el-Sisi’s approach is “better understood as one of diversification and strategic autonomy,” adding that “as the Gulf states have done in recent years, he is trying to hedge without alienating or annoying Egypt’s indisputably most important ally, the US.”
Military cooperation between China and Egypt is also expanding. In August 2026, the two countries held joint air exercises featuring Chinese J-16 fighter jets alongside Egypt’s French-made Rafale aircraft — the first time the J-16s had participated in a combat exercise with Rafales, according to Al Jazeera.
Multilateral Dimensions
The partnership is nested within a broader set of multilateral frameworks, including the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the G20. Egypt joined BRICS in 2023 and has supported China’s hosting of the 2027 BRICS chairmanship and the 19th BRICS Summit.
The joint statement also calls for reform of international financial institutions to give greater representation to developing countries and emphasizes amplifying the voice of the Global South — themes that have become staples of Chinese diplomacy.
What to Watch
Several questions remain open. How Xi’s proposed Middle East security architecture will be operationalized — and how Washington responds to China’s expanded regional role — is likely to shape the next phase of great-power competition in the region. Whether Egypt can sustain its balancing act between Beijing and Washington, given its dependence on US military aid, is another key variable.
The trajectory of China-Egypt military cooperation, the impact of the Nile language on the GERD dispute, and the effect of expanded local-currency settlement on dollar-denominated trade in the region will all bear watching in the months ahead.
For now, the visit has produced a clear signal: China intends to remain a central economic and diplomatic partner for Egypt, and Cairo is willing to deepen that relationship while carefully managing its ties with the United States.