On the floor, Chinese language President Xi Jinping’s go to to Egypt this week is a run-of-the-mill alternative for 2 nations to strengthen financial and diplomatic ties.
However there’s deep subtext to the assembly between Mr. Xi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi: China, america’ prime international rival, is cultivating an intensive relationship with one in every of America’s key allies in West Asia because it strikes to increase its affect within the quickly altering area.
Mr. Xi goals to current China as a stabiliser within the area and distinction it with america, which for many years has been militarily entangled there — its six-month conflict with Iran being simply the most recent instance.
“China continues to construct up its delicate energy reserves whereas america self-sabotages its personal inventory,” Amr Hamzawy, director of the Washington-based Carnegie Center East Program, wrote in a paper earlier this 12 months together with Kathryn Selfe, a former fellow on the program.
Mr. Xi arrived Tuesday (September 1, 2026) night on the Cairo airport, which was adorned with Chinese language and Egyptian flags. El-Sissi and navy guards greeted him on the tarmac with a red-carpet ceremony. The leaders are scheduled to carry talks on Wednesday (September 2, 2026), and Mr. Xi plans to go to the Grand Egyptian Museum, close to the pyramids of Giza.
It has been some time since Xi has visited West Asia
Mr. Xi will likely be in Egypt for 3 days. It’s his first go to there in a decade, and his first journey to the area since visiting Saudi Arabia in 2022. Mr. El-Sissi has visited China a number of occasions lately.
The leaders marked 70 years of diplomatic ties by publishing pleasant opinion items Tuesday (September 1, 2026) in Egypt’s state-run newspapers.
Mr. Xi wrote that Beijing and Cairo ought to “increase the scope of pragmatic collaboration” by way of growth. Mr. El-Sissi lauded China’s investments in Egypt and reiterated Cairo’s help for China’s declare that Taiwan is a part of its territory.
Egypt views its rising relationship with China as a approach to diversify its strategic partnerships.
In 2023, Egypt was invited to affix the BRICS bloc of countries, a grouping of main rising economies that features Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and is seen as a counterbalance to Western-led establishments such because the G7.
A 12 months later, Egypt signed agreements with China to collaborate on its Belt and Street Initiative, a signature coverage of Xi’s that seeks to construct energy and transportation infrastructure around the globe.
China has invested greater than $10 billion in Egypt, constructing a enterprise hub east of the capital, Cairo, and an electrical rail line for trade within the Nile Delta. Annual commerce between the 2 nations is estimated at $20 billion, based on authorities figures.
Commerce between the U.S. and Egypt was $15.7 billion in 2025. Egypt is a vital companion in U.S. nationwide safety priorities within the area, and the nations’ leaders take pleasure in shut ties.
China has been making an attempt to construct bridges between West Asia nations
In 2023, Beijing brokered a deal to reestablish diplomatic ties between Iran — its most vital regional ally and oil provider — and Saudi Arabia, a longtime U.S. ally. The settlement showcased China’s aspirations to compete with america for affect within the West Asia.
Since then, ties between Riyadh and Tehran have frayed. Iran attacked Saudi Arabia and different Gulf nations as a part of its retaliation towards the U.S. and Israel, which launched the conflict on February 28.
China has forged itself as a regional mediator in different methods. It has lengthy advocated a two-state answer to the Israeli-Palestinian battle, which is seen by the Arab world as a linchpin to regional stability.
Shortly earlier than Hamas militants attacked Israel in 2023 and launched the conflict in Gaza, Mr. Xi had hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and introduced a “strategic partnership” with the Palestinian Authority.
The Suez Canal is an important different to the Strait of Hormuz
With oil shipments by way of the Strait of Hormuz closely disrupted by the Iran conflict, the Suez Canal — which is managed by Egypt — has develop into an vital different path for getting power provides out of the area.
“China has good purpose to strengthen ties with the nation that controls the route nonetheless open,” stated Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, a West Asia professional with Jakarta’s Heart of Financial and Regulation Research.
Mr. Xi views Egypt “as a base to achieve the broader Arab and African world, at a time when the U.S. has much less consideration to spare there,” stated Mr. Rakhmat.
In August, China and Egypt held a multi-day air train at a number of bases throughout Egypt — the first-ever fight train for China’s J-16 fighter jets and Egypt’s French-made Rafale fighters.
Mr. Xi is visiting Cairo after attending a two-day convention of the 10-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a political and safety group billed as a counterweight to U.S. international affect. The leaders of Russia, India, Pakistan and Iran attended the convention in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek.
The journey additionally comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s “financial onslaught” on Iran’s monetary connections around the globe. The sanctions intention to isolate the Islamic Republic from its remaining financial companions, together with China, which buys greater than 80% of Iranian oil shipments, normally by way of oblique channels.
Beijing says its commerce with Iran has all the time abided by worldwide legislation.
Printed – September 02, 2026 10:49 am IST
