Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a state visit to Egypt, his first in ten years, in a trip that underlines how far ties between Beijing and Cairo have grown. Xi is due to meet President Abdel Fattah El Sisi for talks on the countries’ strategic partnership and on regional affairs, as both governments look to widen their options beyond traditional Western partners.
The visit, Xi’s first since January 2016, comes as the two nations prepare to mark 70 years of diplomatic relations. Egypt was the first Arab and African country to recognise the People’s Republic of China, in 1956, a history both sides are keen to spotlight.
Trade anchors the relationship. Two-way commerce reached about 20.8 billion dollars in 2025, up from 17.4 billion a year earlier, though the balance is lopsided, with Chinese exports making up almost all of it. China has been Egypt’s largest trading partner for over a decade.
Officials are expected to push forward joint projects running to 2028, focused on electric vehicles, renewable energy and manufacturing, much of it clustered around the Suez Canal economic zone where Chinese firms have expanded industrial operations close to European and Middle Eastern markets.
For Egypt, the deepening partnership fits a strategy of balancing relationships, keeping strong Western and Gulf ties while drawing in Chinese capital and technology. For China, the trip follows a pattern of building influence across the Middle East and Africa through trade and infrastructure rather than security commitments.
Largely a visit of consolidation rather than headline deals, the trip reaffirms a partnership that has quietly become one of the region’s more consequential, and sets the tone for how the two capitals intend to work together in the years ahead.
