Ashraf AboArafe
Dr. Ibrahim Saber, Governor of Cairo, witnessed the celebration of the Egyptian-Chinese Friendship Association on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and the tenth anniversary of the launch of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Egypt and China at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in the presence of Ambassador Ali El-Hafny, Vice President of the Egyptian-Chinese Friendship Association, and Ambassador Liao Liqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Cairo.
In his speech, the Governor of Cairo stressed that Egyptian-Chinese relations have witnessed continuous development in various fields since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on May 30, 1956, as Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, noting that today’s celebration reflects the strength and sustainability of relations between the two sides for more than six decades.
The Governor of Cairo added that Egyptian-Chinese relations, under the era of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, are witnessing a phase of rapid prosperity forward, as they are not based only on the traditional historical friendship relations between two ancient civilizations, but rather are mainly heading towards the broad horizons of the future in the era of the new republic, after the current stage of bilateral cooperation was established on the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that was signed in 2014, which was later supported by many visits made by the Egyptian political leadership to China, the last of which was in May 2024, and it constituted an exceptional leap to expand and develop relations between the two sides in all fields, especially strengthening economic relations between the two countries. The Governor of Cairo pointed out that Cairo Governorate was keen to keep pace with the boom achieved in cooperation between the two countries, so it rushed to activate and activate existing friendship and twinning agreements, in addition to the continuous endeavor to conclude new twinning agreements with a number of Chinese cities, and among those agreements comes Beijing at the forefront, which is linked to a twinning agreement with Cairo since October 28, 1990, and an agreement with the city of “Xian” to preserve the cultural heritage of the four ancient capitals of the world since December 22, 1997, and also an agreement to establish friendly relations with the Shanxi region on April 16, 2008, and a friendship and cooperation agreement with “Shenyang” on January 30, 2016, and work on a draft memorandum of understanding between Cairo and Shanghai.
The Governor of Cairo stressed that all of the above expresses the mutual keenness to make efforts, old and new, to preserve and develop these distinguished relations, and the serious endeavor to launch them into broad horizons for the purpose of achieving development for our two peoples.
The Governor of Cairo added that the positive public image of China among a large segment of Egyptians as a country with an ancient civilization has become one of the great economic powers and a successful model to be emulated, and by meeting at today’s ceremony in this distinguished place at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, we constitute a renewed link in the path of brotherhood and friendship and strengthening relations between our two countries, Egypt and China, in a way that confirms our commitment to strengthening and consolidating cooperation in all fields, especially with the modern renaissance currently being achieved in Egypt in the era of the new republic, and in light of Egypt’s Vision 2030.
The Governor of Cairo confirmed that Cairo Governorate will seek to work on activating Chinese tourism and attracting more new Chinese investments to Cairo and activating and facilitating all agreements in a way that serves the interests of the two peoples.
