Three Outstanding Achievements of Xi Jinping's Visit to Egypt

On January 22, 2016, President Xi Jinping concluded his state visit to Egypt and arrived in Tehran in the evening to begin his state visit to Iran. The visit to Egypt is the second stop of President Xi's trip to the Middle East, and it is also the first visit to Egypt by a top Chinese leader in 12 years. Tang Tianbo, an assistant researcher at the Middle East Institute of the China Institute of Modern International Relations, pointed out in an interview with a reporter from CCTV that President Xi Jinping's visit to Egypt has three outstanding achievements.

Promoting the implementation and deepening of China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership

After talks with Egyptian President Sisi at the Kuba Palace in Cairo, Xi Jinping jointly issued the "Five-Year Implementation Outline of the People's Republic of China and the Arab Republic of Egypt on Strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Two Countries" (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Outline").

Tang Tianbo believes that the first important achievement of President Xi's trip is the publication of the "Implementation Outline."

The implementation outline puts forward 80 agendas in the fields of politics, economy and trade, investment and banking, military and security, science and technology, aerospace, nuclear energy, communications and information technology, culture, news, tourism, education, humanities, environment, agriculture and forestry cooperation, energy, oil and gas industry cooperation, health cooperation, judicial and legal cooperation and international and regional affairs, in each of these areas, specific targets have been proposed for further implementation.

"In December 2014, when President Sisi paid a state visit to China, the two sides established a comprehensive strategic partnership." Tang Tianbo said, "Now the signing of the" Implementation Outline "shows that China and Egypt are no longer just a process of planning and docking. The intentional docking process is basically completed, and the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership has developed to the stage of concrete implementation."

Jointly Promoting "the belt and road initiative" for Mutual Benefit in Economy

During his talks with Sisi, Xi Jinping pointed out that the two sides should align their respective development strategies and visions, and use the two major starting points of infrastructure construction and production capacity cooperation to build Egypt into a fulcrum country along the "Belt and Road.

After the talks, the two sides signed the Memorandum of understanding between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt on jointly promoting the Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, as well as a number of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of power, infrastructure construction, economy and trade, energy, finance, aerospace, culture, news, science and technology, climate change, and jointly unveiled the second phase of the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone.

Tang Tianbo said that Egypt's current foreign exchange reserves are only half of those before the "Arab Spring" revolution in 2011. The Egyptian government has a lot of things to do, but there are indeed certain financial problems. During President Xi's visit to Egypt, the two countries have achieved concrete economic cooperation. For example, China provides loans to the Central Bank of Egypt and the National Bank with practical support for financing. Providing loans to Egypt to help Egypt's economic development will be a mutually beneficial and win-win thing to build Egypt into a fulcrum country along the "Belt and Road.

According to media reports, the China Development Bank signed a $1 billion loan agreement with the Central Bank of Egypt and a $0.7 billion loan agreement with Abbas, chairman of the National Bank of Egypt. In addition to the above-mentioned US $1.7 billion, CDB will also lend US $0.1 billion to Egyptian banks to finance strategic projects in Egypt. A $0.7 billion loan from CDB and the National Bank of Egypt was also used to support strategic project development in Egypt.

Strengthen cultural exchanges between the two sides

During this visit to Egypt, President Xi Jinping attended the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt and the opening ceremony of the 2016 China-Egypt Cultural Year at Luxor Temple Square.

Xi Jinping pointed out that Luxor is a concentrated embodiment of ancient Egyptian civilization. The buildings here reflect the amazing intelligence and technological level of the ancient Egyptian people. Both China and Egypt are countries with ancient civilizations. It is necessary for us to strengthen people-to-people exchanges, deepen people-to-people friendship, consolidate the public opinion foundation for cooperation between the two countries, and promote common development and common prosperity of both sides.

During the talks with President Sisi, Xi Jinping also pointed out that China is willing to strengthen cultural cooperation with Egypt, intensify cultural, educational, and tourism exchanges, and enhance friendly exchanges between the two peoples.

In Tang Tianbo's view, in-depth cultural exchanges between the two countries is another highlight of the visit. She mentioned that China and Egypt are both four ancient civilizations, and among the three countries in the Middle East on this trip, Egypt is the most prominent and the atmosphere is stronger. "Culture is a kind of in-depth exchange. President Xi's attendance at the grand celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt and the opening ceremony of the 2016 China-Egypt Cultural Year embodies the sympathy of the two countries and the strengthening of cultural exchanges. It is also a matter of benefit to the development of bilateral relations.