On the morning of October 19, 2023, President Xi Jinping met at the Great Hall of the People with Prime Minister of Egypt Mostafa Madbouly who is in China to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF).
Xi Jinping pointed out that Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. China and Egypt are good friends with common purposes and mutual trust and good partners for joint development and common prosperity. Over the past decade, China and Egypt have carried out fruitful cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. China supports Egypt in following a development path suited to its national conditions. China is ready to deepen synergy of development strategies with Egypt, encourage capable Chinese companies to invest and do business in Egypt, and welcome more high-quality Egyptian products to enter the Chinese market. China will work with Egypt to follow through on the outcomes of the third BRF, strengthen cooperation in such fields as infrastructure, agricultural technology and renewable energy, expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation, and continuously advance the development of China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership.
Xi Jinping congratulated Egypt on joining the BRICS cooperation mechanism upon invitation, and pointed out that China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Egypt within the China-Arab and China-Africa frameworks, enhance coordination and cooperation at the United Nations, BRICS and other multilateral platforms, uphold true multilateralism and international fairness and justice, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries, so as to inject more certainty and stability into the region and the world.
Mostafa Madbouly congratulated China on successfully hosting the third BRF. Egypt sees China as a role model for emerging economies and developing countries. He expressed gratitude for China’s long-term, valuable support to Egypt, and noted that the Belt and Road cooperation has greatly improved Egypt’s transportation and logistics capabilities and given a strong boost to its economic development. Egypt looks forward to greater development of Egypt-China relations in all fields, will continue to actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation, and expects more Chinese companies to invest and do business in Egypt. He said Egypt is ready to provide policy support and security guarantee to this end. Madbouly thanked China for supporting Egypt’s accession to the BRICS cooperation mechanism, and expressed his readiness to work closely with China in multilateral cooperation to make the international landscape more balanced and just.
President Xi stated China’s principled position on the current Palestinian-Israeli situation. He stressed that the top priority is to stop the fighting as soon as possible, prevent the conflict from spreading or even getting out of control and causing a severe humanitarian crisis. The fundamental way out of the recurring Palestinian-Israeli conflicts is to implement the two-state solution, establish an independent State of Palestine and achieve peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel. China commends Egypt’s important role in helping cool down the situation, supports Egypt’s efforts to open a humanitarian corridor, and stands ready to strengthen coordination with Egypt and other Arab countries to work for a comprehensive, just and enduring solution to the Palestinian question at an early date. Madbouly said that Egypt and other Arab countries highly appreciate China’s consistent and just position on the Palestinian question and expect China to play a bigger role in solving the current crisis.
