China’s Xi arrives in Cairo for Egypt state visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Egypt on Tuesday, his first visit to the Arab world’s most populous country in a decade.

Preparations in the capital Cairo have been underway for days, with traffic diverted and thoroughfares leading to sites such as the medieval Saladin Citadel decked out with Chinese and Egyptian flags.

Egyptian state media highlighted Cairo’s growing economic and military ties to Beijing and Egypt’s role as the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic ties with China 70 years ago.

“Egypt and China have become partners contributing together to strengthening the role of the Global South in the international system,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi wrote in an op-ed in state newspaper Al-Ahram.

Xi’s visit is the second leg of his second overseas trip this year, following his participation in a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan where he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and others.

In commentary published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Xi said that the two countries were “close brothers standing by each other” in the face of imperialism and colonialism and that he looked forward to exploring a deeper partnership.