China, Egypt called on to make new advances in ties

China and Egypt reiterated on Thursday their commitment to bolstering Belt and Road cooperation to make new progress in building a China-Egypt community with a shared future in the new era.

The pledge was made during Premier Li Qiang's meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo, the Egyptian capital.

Li said that China is willing to encourage more capable Chinese enterprises to invest in Egypt, vowing to strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas such as the economy and trade, finance, manufacturing, new energy, science and technology, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

The international landscape is marked by mounting turbulence and escalating disorder, with prolonged and unresolved conflicts particularly affecting the West Asian and North African regions, he noted.

China stands ready to maintain close communication with Egypt and promote an early ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Li said.

China is also ready to work with Egypt to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, prevent the spillover and escalation of the conflict, and make unremitting efforts for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue, he added.

The premier said that China is willing to work with Egypt to enhance communication and coordination within multilateral platforms, including the United Nations, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and practice true multilateralism.

El-Sisi hailed China as Egypt's sincere friend, and said that bilateral relations have maintained steady and sound development.

Egypt is willing to advance Belt and Road cooperation, and deepen cooperation in the economy, trade, investment, new energy, infrastructure development, tourism and other fields, he said.

El-Sisi added that his country welcomes more Chinese enterprises to enter the Egyptian market, and is willing to provide facilitation in this regard.

In recent years, the two governments have encouraged and promoted enterprises on both sides to expand economic and trade cooperation, and bilateral trade has achieved sustained development. In 2024, trade between China and Egypt reached $17.4 billion, according to data from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Li arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for a two-day official visit to Egypt. Upon his arrival, he held a meeting with Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, secretary-general of the League of Arab States, which has its headquarters in the Egyptian capital.

The premier said that China is willing to continue aligning its development strategies with those of Arab countries, and called on both sides to leverage cooperation potential in emerging fields such as new energy, artificial intelligence, the digital economy and the blue economy.

China is also ready to work with Arab countries to promote the coordinated development of landmark flagship projects and "small but beautiful" projects to better benefit the people on both sides, he added.

The two sides should enhance dialogue among civilizations and people-to-people exchanges, deepen cooperation among youth, think tanks and universities, as well as in culture and tourism, and explore the implementation of more measures to facilitate personnel exchanges, in order to boost people-to-people bonds, Li said.

Aboul-Gheit said that Arab-China relations enjoy a good momentum of development, and practical cooperation has achieved fruitful results.

He expressed appreciation for China's assistance to the economic and social development of Arab states, adding that the Arab side highly values China's consistent support for Arab countries on multilateral platforms.

Both Li and Aboul-Gheit called for joint efforts to make the second China-Arab States Summit a success. The summit will be held in China next year.

China has been the largest trading partner of Arab countries for many consecutive years, with trade between the two sides exceeding $400 billion in 2024, according to data released in April by a business conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum.