Sisi in Beijing for further Egyptian-Chinese relations

CAIRO - 1 September 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi arrived on Saturday in Beijing, a stop in his in four-day visit, which will include his participation at the summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) slated for Sept. 3-4, and a bilateral summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on September 1, 2018 - Press photo/Presidency


Sisi’s visit to China is “strategic”

Local and international media outlets have widely highlighted President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s recent visit to Bahrain, China and Uzbekistan.

Kuwait's Al-Siyassa newspaper described Sisi’s visit to China as “strategic”, adding that it will open up a new channel for more future cooperation between Beijing and African and Arab countries, since it is an economic power.

The president will also visit the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China, also known as the Central Party School, located in Beijing, and is the higher education institution that trains officials for the ruling political party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Both leaders will sign a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding addressing the development of joint cooperation between the two sides in a number of fields, according to the presidency’s spokesperson Bassam Radi.

Since President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi came to power, the relationship between Egypt and China has developed.

Five Egyptian-Chinese summits have been held in the last three years, which means that about one-third of all summit meetings between the two countries in history were held by Sisi’s presidency in only three years.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on September 1, 2018 - Press photo/Presidency


Strategic Partnership Summit

The first summit between President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was held from Dec. 22 - 25, 2014. Sisi’s visit was the first to China after he assumed his post as president.

Sisi welcomed the Chinese president's initiative to raise Egyptian-Chinese relations up to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership. The two sides also signed agreements on economic and technical cooperation.

The president asserted that Egypt backs the Chinese initiative for reviving the historical Silk Road which passes through 56 countries and plans to strengthen cooperation in infrastructure, nuclear power, new energy and aerospace. Sisi also held a meeting with presidents of 28 Chinese universities and also met with representatives of major Chinese tourism companies.

During his visit to China, Sisi visited Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, to tour factories specializing in technology and manufacturing.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on September 1, 2018 - Press photo/Presidency

The Great Hall of the People Summit

The second summit between the Chinese and Egyptian presidents was held in September 2015 at the Great Hall of the People Summit in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

During the summit, Sisi welcomed China's investments in Egypt and reviewed a number of projects in which Chinese investors could contribute, especially in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

The two presidents witnessed the signing of a framework agreement for cooperation in the field of production capacity. The Development Bank of China and the National Bank of Egypt signed an agreement under which a $1 billion loan will be provided to finance small and medium enterprises in Egypt.


Chinese president in Egypt

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in January 2016 to Egypt in a historical visit after 12 years. Jinping’s visit comes as China and Egypt mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties.


President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, alongside officials of both countries in Beijing on September 1, 2018 - Press photo/Presidency

The two presidents signed a slew of separate agreements for undertaking projects in sectors like electricity, transportation and infrastructure. They also signed a number of cooperation deals in transportation, power generation and civil aviation sectors worth $15 billion. They announced 2016 to be the year of Chinese Culture in Egypt and the year of Egyptian Culture in China.

G20 Summit

Sisi participated as a guest at the 2016 G20 summit upon the invitation of the Chinese president and summit chairman Xi Jinping.

Jinping expressed China's support of Egypt's efforts to "maintain stability and explore its own development path” and praised Egypt's development over the past two years.

BRICS summit

Egypt took part in three high-profile bilateral meetings with China, Russia and India alongside the ninth annual BRICS summit which kicked off the first Sunday of September 2017 in the Chinese port city Xiamen.

Sisi met the Chinese president, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Egypt took part also in the BRICS Business Forum, a major side event of the annual summit, where around 1,000 businessmen attended, according to press statements by the Egyptian ambassador to China.

President Sisi gave a speech during the forum and displayed Egypt’s economic vision to the attendees.

Morever, China has always been a key economic partner for Egypt over the past four years.

Overview: Thriving Egyptian-Chinese economic relations

CAIRO- 1 September 2017: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will head to the Chinese city of Xiamen on Sunday to attend the ninth summit of the BRICS block upon an invitation for Egypt, among other five non-members states, to attend the summit.

Sisi will end his trip in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent, in what will be the first such visit by an Egyptian president, the presidency spokesman said.

The Egyptian president will discuss with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev ways to bolster bilateral ties. A number of deals are also expected to be signed during the visit.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on September 1, 2018 - Press photo/Presidency