Xi Jinping Arrives in Egypt for First State Visit in a Decade
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CAIRO, September 1 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for his first visit to the Arab world’s most populous country in a decade as Cairo expands its economic and military relations with Beijing.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi welcomed Xi at Cairo International Airport. Egyptian state television showed the two leaders walking along a red carpet bordered by uniformed soldiers, folk dancers and young Egyptians carrying Chinese flags.
"Egypt and China have become partners contributing together to strengthening the role of the Global South in the international system," Sisi wrote in an opinion article published by the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper.
In commentary published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Xi described the two countries as "close brothers standing by each other" in the face of imperialism and colonialism and said he wanted to explore a deeper partnership.
Egyptian state media has highlighted that Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with China 70 years ago.
Military cooperation has also expanded. Egypt, which receives about $1.3 billion annually in U.S. military aid, hosted its second annual military exercises with China last month.
The drills included the first deployment of Chinese J-16 jets to Africa and a rare air combat exercise involving the Chinese-made aircraft and French-made Rafales, according to Chinese state media. A Chinese air force tanker was also shown refueling a Rafale.
H. A. Hellyer, a scholar at the Royal United Services Institute, said Egypt had sought deeper relations with Beijing since at least 2014. He said "questions of American reliability and volatility" raised by the wars in Gaza and Iran had reinforced Cairo’s desire to diversify its partnerships.
"Egypt sees itself as moving toward greater strategic autonomy," Hellyer said. "It wants strong relations with Washington, but also Beijing, Moscow, and Europe."
Chinese investment in Egypt has increased in recent years across manufacturing, ports, solar energy, green hydrogen and satellite technology.
Eric Olander, co-founder of the China Global South Project, described Egypt as an "obvious choice" for Xi because of its position in several regional issues.
"It touches on Israel, and the Palestinian issue. It touches on Africa. It touches on the Persian Gulf issue," Olander said.
Source: Reuters
