Xi’s Cairo Return After a Decade Puts China Egypt Investment in Focus

By Tahani Elghazaly
Published August 26, 2026

Latest news on WhatsApp أجدد الأخبار على واتساب

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Egypt as part of an overseas trip running from August 30 to September 3, marking his first state visit to the country in ten years. Xi is expected to hold talks with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual concern.

The Egypt visit will follow Xi’s participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. China’s Foreign Ministry said the trip carries particular significance as Egypt and China mark 70 years of diplomatic relations in 2026.

Beijing has not yet announced a detailed economic agenda for the talks, but the visit comes as Chinese investment in Egypt continues to expand. Egyptian statistics cited by the Chinese Embassy in Cairo this month put Chinese investment in the country at more than US$10 billion, with over 3,000 Chinese companies operating in Egypt.

The Suez Canal Economic Zone has emerged as a major focus of that investment. Egyptian officials have held a series of meetings with Chinese companies and delegations this year to discuss industrial and logistics projects, including a proposed US$2 billion aluminum manufacturing complex.

Trade is also expanding. Chinese figures show bilateral trade reached a record US$20.8 billion in 2025, while Egyptian and Chinese companies signed nearly US$170 million worth of new trade agreements in Cairo in August.

Egypt became the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in 1956. Xi’s previous state visit to Egypt took place in January 2016 and produced investment and assistance agreements worth billions of dollars, giving his return a decade later added economic and diplomatic significance.