Xi Jinping arrives in Cairo for three-day summit as China deepens Middle East ties

Diplomatic arrival in Cairo

Chinese President Xi Jinping landed at Cairo International Airport on Tuesday evening for a three-day official visit to Egypt. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi greeted Xi on the tarmac with a red-carpet ceremony featuring military guards, folk dancers, and spectators waving Chinese flags at an airport adorned with national emblems of both countries. The trip marks Xi's first visit to Egypt in a decade, following his 2016 tour through Riyadh, Cairo, and Tehran, and his first Middle Eastern travel since visiting Saudi Arabia in 2022. This diplomatic mission is the second leg of Xi's second foreign journey in 2026, following his attendance at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Formal bilateral talks between Xi and el-Sisi are scheduled for Wednesday, followed by an official visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum located near the Giza pyramids.

Deepening economic and political alignment

The summit marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Egypt and China, dating back to when Egypt became the first Arab and African nation to establish formal ties with Beijing. Both leaders published friendly opinion pieces in Egyptian state-run publications on Tuesday. El-Sisi praised expanding Chinese investments and reiterated Cairo's official diplomatic support for Beijing's position that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory. In his writing, Xi stated that both nations should expand the scope of pragmatic collaboration through shared development. Egypt entered the BRICS economic bloc in 2023 and signed official agreements in 2024 to collaborate on the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi's signature global infrastructure framework, through which China has invested over $10 billion in Egypt. Writing in the state newspaper Al-Ahram, el-Sisi described the partnership.

Egypt and China have become partners contributing together to strengthening the role of the Global South in the international system.

Strategic and military cooperation

The diplomatic engagement occurs as Middle Eastern states reassess security alignments and global energy markets during the fallout of the six-month war between the United States and Iran. In August 2026, Egypt hosted its second annual joint military exercises with China, expanding a defense program initiated in 2025. The exercises marked the first deployment of Chinese J-16 fighter aircraft to Africa and featured rare combat simulation drills pairing Chinese jets with French-made Rafale fighters. Chinese state media also published images of a Chinese air force tanker refuelling an Egyptian Rafale aircraft during the drills. Egypt maintains deep defense ties with Washington and receives approximately $1.3 billion per year in American military assistance.

Regional influence and diplomatic posture

Bilateral defense and diplomatic outreach has built up steadily since 2014, when the recently elected el-Sisi travelled to Beijing to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, as noted by Royal United Services Institute scholar H. A. Hellyer. Commentary published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi stating that China and Egypt are close brothers standing by each other against imperialism and colonialism. In an analytical paper published earlier this year, Carnegie Middle East Program director Amr Hamzawy and former fellow Kathryn Selfe evaluated the contrasting approaches of Beijing and Washington in the region.

China continues to build up its soft power reserves while the United States self-sabotages its own stock.

Xi's three-day itinerary will conclude after high-level bilateral working sessions in Cairo and scheduled cultural visits around the Giza pyramids.