Chinese President “Xi Jinping” invited his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to participate in the Tenth Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum in Beijing on May 30, 2024, where the conference will focus on formulating a comprehensive development plan for Chinese-Egyptian-Arab relations, with President El-Sisi affirmed that this year’s session will achieve fruitful results in cooperation between the two sides. Egypt plays a vital role as a bridge between the Arab world and China, in the China-Arab Cooperation Forum scheduled to be held on May 30 in Beijing, by providing a platform for dialogue and communication between the two sides, which helps facilitate understanding and strengthen relations between the two parties.
China views the Egyptian role as a bridge between the Arab world and China, enabling it to achieve understanding and effective cooperation between the two parties, and to strengthen strategic partnerships in various fields, which contributes to achieving prosperity and stability in the region and the world.
At a time when Chinese-Egyptian-Arab relations are going through their best stages, Beijing’s invitation to hold the tenth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, with the official participation of the Egyptian side and President “El-Sisi”, came as an opportunity to further deepen cooperation in various fields between the two sides. Egypt can play as well a role in enhancing cooperation between the Arab world and China in areas such as energy and infrastructure, which enhances joint investments and contributes to achieving sustainable development on both sides.
China believes in the role that Egypt plays in the region, given that Egypt is a major Arab and African country, and an important member of the Global South. Therefore, all these factors require continuing work to deepen the comprehensive partnership between the Chinese and Egyptian countries.
During the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, the leaders of Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates visited China at the same time upon an official invitation by the Chinese President “Xi Jinping”. Through the China-Arab Forum, China calls for the so-called “association of common destiny between China and the Arab countries”. Chinese President “Xi Jinping” proposed this term for the first time in 2014 during the period of the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the Arab-Chinese Cooperation Forum, as a basis for shaping China’s relationship in the region and a plan for developing relations between the two sides. This term (common future for humanity) was included, which was proposed by Chinese President “Xi Jinping” during the Amman Declaration in July 2020, the ninth ministerial meeting of the Arab-Chinese Cooperation Forum. In 2018, it was agreed to establish a future-oriented strategic partnership between the Arab and Chinese sides. The forum discusses establishing peace between Palestinians and Israelis and supporting the two-state solution.
The participation of the Egyptian and Arab leaders in the meetings of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum is a message to confirm work to strengthen relations with China, which in return seeks to engage more with political issues in the Middle East region. The high Arab presence in the tenth edition of the China-Arab Forum reflects the growing level of partnership between China and Arab countries in recent years, as there are about 12 Arab countries that currently maintain comprehensive strategic partnership relations with China, and Chinese investments in Arab countries are close to 250 billion dollars, and the size of Chinese trade with Arab countries is close to half a trillion dollars.
There is consensus in visions between the two sides at the level of the international system. There are a number of foundations regarding international relations that enjoy consensus between the two sides, represented in: respect for sovereignty, refusal to interfere in the internal affairs of states, and the importance of respecting the rules of international law.
In addition to both China and the Arab world are emphasizing the necessity of reforming the United Nations, rejecting unipolarity, and calling for multilateralism. Each party also supports the other in its pivotal issues, as the Arab countries support China’s unity, and China also supports Arab issues, most notably the Palestinian issue.
The Chinese position on the Palestinian issue enjoys Arab appreciation, as it is consistent with the Arab vision by emphasizing the importance of the two-state solution as the only solution to the crisis, with the necessity of ending the Israeli occupation. During the recent crisis between Israel and Palestine, China, which recognized the Palestinian state in 1988, called on both parties to calm down, exercise restraint, and stop hostilities, warning of the danger of continuing the current stalemate in the peace process, as the continuation of this stagnation would renew cycles of violence, and stressing that The basic solution is the establishment of an independent State of Palestine within the framework of the two-state solution, while emphasizing the necessity of resuming peace talks and the pivotal role of the international community in stopping the violence and advancing the peace process.
Egypt, the Emirates, and all Arab countries also agree with the vision of Chinese President “Xi Jinping” and his initiative on “global security”, which he presented in April 2022, and calls for the necessity of adapting to the extremely changing international scene through solidarity, confronting extremely complex and interconnected security challenges, and eliminating on the root causes of international conflicts, while strengthening (global security governance), and supporting international efforts to achieve greater international stability, while promoting lasting peace and development in the world. That is, the essence of the initiative is (strengthening global security) in light of the increasing complexity of security challenges, by resorting to peaceful mechanisms and helping to find radical solutions to conflicts and the existence of appropriate frameworks for global security governance, which would contribute to achieving global stability.
Based on our aforementioned analysis, China views Egypt as an important country in the Arab world and the African region, and Egypt is also considered a (new member of the BRICS), which makes it, from the Chinese perspective, one of the most important Arab countries, especially as it participates in building the Belt and Road Initiative. For this reason, Egypt has remained a reliable strategic partner for China, as the two sides have achieved fruitful results in cooperation in various fields, explaining that Chinese-Egyptian cooperation has formed a model for China’s cooperation with other Arab countries, which has helped to significantly expand the horizons of cooperation.
