At the invitation of Chinese President “Xi Jinping”, the visit of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to the Chinese capital, Beijing, came to participate in the 2024 Arab-China Forum Summit, in search of deepening bilateral relations with Egypt’s largest trading partner over the past 12 years. The visit of Egyptian President “El-Sisi” to China, and his participation in the opening ceremony of the forum, reflects the clear endeavor of both sides towards strengthening and deepening bilateral relations, according to analyzes of the Chinese press and think tanks and research centers.
On September 1, 2018, the Egyptian President El-Sisi also participated in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit, reflecting the great importance of China-Africa relations. On April 25, 2019, “El-Sisi” participated in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation summit, where he discussed with the Chinese President ways to support and activate the initiative, and held meetings with Chinese officials and businessmen.
During his participation in the summit of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, Egyptian President “El-Sisi” focused on issues of concern to developing countries and the importance of strengthening international efforts to facilitate their integration into the global economy and strengthen the voice of the Global South, led by China. These mutual visits reflect the common desire to enhance bilateral relations and strategic cooperation, and emphasize the important role that Egypt plays as a major partner of China in the region.
The Importance of the participation of Egypt and President “El-Sisi” and his meeting with his Chinese counterpart “Xi Jinping”, in the China-Arab Cooperation Forum remains an opportunity for both parties, in light of both China and Egypt facing enormous opportunities and challenges, and each must support the other with regard to basic interests and major concerns.
China and Egypt are important countries, and both are prominent members of the “Global South”. So, here we can figure out many areas can China, Egypt and Arab states reach consensus at Arab-China Cooperation Forum. They’re many other new impetus will be injected into China-Arab relations. The Arab-Egyptian-Chinese Cooperation Forum is a platform for strengthening bilateral relations between Arab countries and China, and deepening mutual understanding and strategic cooperation between the two sides. Over the past twenty years, the Forum has contributed to deepening this cooperation in many fields by launching various mechanisms that helped achieve this goal, so that Arab-Chinese cooperation within the framework of the Forum constitutes one of the most prominent and successful experiences of trans-regional cooperation.
The establishment of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum is a strategic decision taken by China and the League of Arab States with the aim of developing China-Arab relations in the long term. Here, the economic development in Egypt needs reliable partners such as China, and Chinese investments in Egypt contribute to its development in various social and economic fields, while also strengthening the international market’s confidence in Egypt.
The high Egyptian and 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 has increased significantly.
Other mechanisms gradually emerged within the framework of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, in addition to the China-Egyptian-Arab Ministerial Meeting and the Senior Officials Meeting between China and Arab countries, such as: (the Chinese-Arab Businessmen Conference, the Investments Symposium, the Sino-Arab Relations Symposium, the Dialogue between the Chinese and Arab Civilizations, the Sino-Arab Friendship Conference, and the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum in the field of energy, the Sino-Arab Cooperation Symposium in the field of media, the Sino-Arab Arts Festival, the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum in the field of satellite navigation (Beidou), the Chinese and Arab Women Forum, the Sino-Arab Cities Forum, and the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum in the field of Radio and Television). The activities of these aforementioned mechanisms and cooperation frameworks are often held alternately every two years in China and one of the Arab countries. In addition, there is institutional cooperation between China and the Arab side in the areas of environmental protection, human resources training, and others.
China calls for the so-called “association of common destiny between China, Egypt and the Arab countries”. The Chinese President “Xi Jinping” proposed this term for the first time in 2014 during the sixth ministerial meeting of the Arab-Chinese Cooperation Forum, as a basis for shaping China’s relationship in the region and a plan to develop relations between the two sides. This term was included in the Amman Declaration in July 2020, the ninth ministerial meeting of the Arab-China Cooperation Forum. In 2018, it was agreed to establish a future-oriented strategic partnership between the Arab and Chinese sides.
The China-Arab Cooperation Forum also contributed, through many cooperation mechanisms and frameworks that it contributed to establishing, to enhancing intellectual and cultural exchange and facilitating the dialogue of civilizations between the Chinese and Arab sides. Many sessions of the symposium on Chinese-Arab relations and dialogue between Chinese and Arab civilizations were implemented. There has become a consensus between the Chinese and Arab sides with regard to dialogue between civilizations, rejection of the “clash of civilizations” theory, and rejection of ideas that call for civilizational superiority and other ideas promoted by the United States of America and its Western allies in the face of China and its partners who support the transition to a multipolar international world. Many cultural events, which have been organized in recent years, have also contributed to creating greater rapprochement among the Arab-Chinese peoples.
There is also consensus in visions between the Chinese and Arab sides at the level of the international system. There are a number of foundations regarding international relations that are agreed upon between the two sides, represented in: (respect for sovereignty, refusal to interfere in the internal affairs of countries, and the importance of respecting the rules of international law). In addition to the Chinese-Arab emphasis on 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 and support, because 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.
Accordingly, it is expected that the visit of Egyptian President “El-Sisi” to attend the China-Arab Cooperation Forum in the capital, Beijing, will contribute to strengthening mutual political trust between China and Egypt, and enhancing bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, infrastructure, agriculture, etc., which enhances the role Egypt is a major leading country in the Arab and African countries and has influence in the Middle East region, and this is what China always seeks to benefit from.
