China supported Egypt politically and economically following the June 30, 2013 revolution, rejecting interference in its internal affairs and seeking strategic rapprochement. Chinese think tanks and military circles considered the success of the June 30 revolution to have saved Egypt, while strongly criticizing the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule, accusing the group of attempting to dismantle national state institutions and coordinating with international powers to serve ideological projects. The assessments of Chinese think tanks and circles regarding the June 30 revolution in Egypt reflect a clear geopolitical and strategic approach, viewing it as a pivotal turning point for saving the Egyptian nation-state. This Chinese perspective crystallized in several key assessments, including support for the Egyptian army and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, then minister of defense, to safeguard Egyptian national identity and statehood. Beijing and its research centers considered the popular and institutional intervention of June 30, 2013, to have prevented the collapse of Egyptian state institutions and the country’s descent into chaos, thus preserving the strategic stability vital to China’s economic and political presence in the Middle East and Africa.
For this reason, the Chinese state and intelligence apparatus confronted the crisis of the brotherhoodization of the Egyptian state during the era of its president, Mohamed Morsi. Chinese circles strongly criticized the policies of the Muslim Brotherhood during their rule, viewing them as a systematic attempt to dismantle Egyptian national state institutions in favor of a transnational ideology, given the convergence of their interests with a number of other international extremist organizations, such as Al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra Front, and ISIS. Therefore, China supported the policies of the Egyptian army and its president, El-Sisi, to tighten control in combating extremism, especially in the Sinai Peninsula, following the increased spread of terrorist operations by these Brotherhood terrorist cells, which aimed to undermine stability within the Egyptian state. Therefore, Chinese military and security circles viewed the Muslim Brotherhood with suspicion due to their concerns about the spread of radical political Islam. They observed a potential ideological and organizational convergence between the Brotherhood’s ideology and certain separatist and takfiri movements, such as those in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), a predominantly Muslim region of China. This made the rise of the Brotherhood a threat to China’s internal national security. Consequently, China supported the Egyptian people’s will to remove the Muslim Brotherhood from power. China immediately translated its assessments into action by building strong strategic partnerships with the new Egyptian leadership after the revolution, based on its deep belief in the principle of respecting sovereignty and non-interference and its rejection of projects aimed at chaos or the dismantling of Arab states.
China’s support for Egypt after the June 30 Revolution and its vision for the country are based on its supportive stance towards Egypt, its early recognition of the success of the June 30 Revolution, and its political support for President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. China was among the first countries to recognize the will of the Egyptian people after June 30. Beijing rejected any international attempts to impose political conditions on Egypt or interfere in its political trajectory. This resulted in China signing a comprehensive strategic partnership with Egypt at the beginning of President Sisi’s rule. China translated its support for Egypt into a robust economic and political partnership. During President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s visit to China in December 2014, the comprehensive strategic partnership document was announced, later culminating in the integration of China’s Belt and Road Initiative with Egypt’s Vision 2030. This contributed to breaking Egypt’s international isolation, especially after China hosted Egypt at the G20 summit in 2016 and the BRICS summit in 2017, in clear defiance of Washington’s policies, which at the time sought to pressure and freeze aid to Egypt.
This is where the Chinese research and intelligence centers’ vision and criticism of the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule in Egypt became clear: to thwart the project of dismantling the Egyptian nation-state and spreading chaos in the region. Hence, the Chinese military establishment and intelligence agencies view the Egyptian army as the first line of defense against plans to dismantle the region’s states. Beijing believes that the Egyptian army’s alignment with the popular will on June 30th thwarted a regional and international project. Chinese think tanks and intelligence agencies have accused the Muslim Brotherhood and its president, Mohamed Morsi, of suspicious coordination. Chinese intelligence and academic sources have accused the Muslim Brotherhood of maintaining a covert coordination with successive US administrations, such as the Democratic Party, with the aim of establishing what is described as a “Brotherhood United States.” This is considered a threat to Chinese national security. Beijing and its ruling Communist Party viewed the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power as a direct threat to China’s interests and investments in Egypt and the region. Chinese circles have classified the Muslim Brotherhood as a separatist terrorist movement seeking to export chaos and advance an agenda that threatens regional stability and China’s internal security. The Brotherhood lacks an economic vision, and Chinese research centers specializing in the Middle East have analyzed its rule as characterized by failure in governance. The economic and security files led the country toward a sharp division and increased inflation and unemployment rates.
Chinese think tanks and intelligence agencies also criticized the Muslim Brotherhood’s “Islam is the Solution” slogan. Chinese political studies considered the Brotherhood’s slogans vague and unrealistic and their inability to offer practical solutions to Egypt’s cultural and economic problems. Chinese studies and official reports confirm that Beijing abandoned any ideological considerations in the region and focused purely pragmatically on supporting stability under the leadership of the Egyptian state and its president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. This led to enhanced Chinese development cooperation with Cairo and an increase in the volume of mutual investments. Chinese think tanks’ assessments of the Brotherhood’s discourse and its president, Mohamed Morsi, focused on the vagueness of the Brotherhood’s slogans. Chinese studies analyzed that the slogan “Islam is the Solution” lacked realism and tangibility, and its absence and inability to provide practical solutions to Egypt’s national problems meant that the group, in their view, failed to address these issues. Chinese intelligence and research centers have proposed practical programs to address the complex economic and cultural crises that Egypt has suffered for many years. Furthermore, and most importantly for strategic and relevant circles in Beijing, there is a connection between the Muslim Brotherhood’s approach and terrorism. Several official Chinese newspapers, such as China Daily, have linked the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood to extremist groups and the threats faced by both Egypt and China.
Consequently, China has undergone a pragmatic shift, moving beyond ideology to supporting the Egyptian military establishment, the Egyptian army, and its president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. This shift is particularly evident after Beijing officially declared its abandonment of ideological considerations in its regional dealings, a shift reflected in the coverage of official Chinese newspapers during that period, which described the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as a terrorist organization, preferring instead to focus on strong nation-states to support stability. For this reason, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received full Chinese support thanks to his efforts in combating the threat of extremist groups and restoring internal stability to the country, especially given China’s rejection of the Muslim Brotherhood. Muslims are banned terrorists. The fruits of Chinese economic and strategic cooperation with Cairo during President Sisi’s term have been a significant increase in Chinese investments in Cairo. This rapprochement between China and Egypt has translated into an economic boom, with Egypt attracting $1 billion in Chinese investments in the first quarter of 2026, reaching approximately $10 billion by the end of 2025. Cairo and Beijing have entered into a developmental and strategic partnership and development cooperation focused on localizing Chinese industry in Cairo, in accordance with President Sisi’s directives, and transferring advanced Chinese technology to Egypt. This has been highlighted by the Chinese press and official media as Egypt and China celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between them in 2025. Ambitious agreements have been signed between Cairo and Beijing, and they have adopted joint slogans under the banner “From Shared Civilization to Strategic Partnership.”
