China's Xi visits Egypt for the first time in a decade

+ World China's Xi visits Egypt for the first time in a decade September 3, 20264:08 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Aya Batrawy China's Xi visits Egypt for the first time in a decade Listen &middot; 2:33 2:33 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5954184/nx-s1-9911760" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Xi Jinping's visit to Egypt for the first time in a decade, and during the Iran war, comes as U.S.

+ Sponsor Message Transcript STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: The president of China has finished a visit to Egypt, which is the most populous country in the Middle East and a traditional U.S. ally. NPR's Aya Batrawy reports on Beijing's influence there.

+ (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Cairo to pomp and pageantry. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) BATRAWY: President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Egypt's first lady greeted Xi and his wife as they stepped off the plane to a red carpet, a military salute, a folkloric dance troupe and children wearing T-shirts with Xi's face printed on them. Xi made Egypt his only destination in the Mideast, emphasizing that Cairo remains a linchpin. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) SAMIR FARAG: (Non-English language spoken). BATRAWY: That's retired Egyptian Major General Samir Farag. He says China sees Egypt as its gateway to Africa to locally manufacture goods and leverage the Suez Canal. But this relationship is evolving beyond traditional fields into artificial intelligence, technology sharing and defense. Chinese J-16 fighter jets held military exercises with Egypt's French-made Rafale at air bases in Egypt last month. Cairo, though, still relies on over a billion dollars in U.S. military aid every year. But like other Mideast allies, it's broadening its defense ties, says Bilal Saab, a former adviser to the Pentagon who's now a senior managing director at TRENDS Research & Advisory. BILAL SAAB: So now it's kind of like a portfolio approach to security, where there isn't exclusive reliance on the Americans, but multiple layers of deterrence and defense. BATRAWY: He says that while countries in the region view the U.S. as an increasingly unpredictable partner... SAAB: What they're doing here is trying to figure out ways to complement the U.S. security umbrella, not to replace it. BATRAWY: The joint military exercises and Xi's visit come six months into a U.S.-Israeli war with Iran that's engulfed the region. Egypt's also facing instability on all its borders with Israel, Gaza, Sudan and Libya. But its most pressing concern seems to be further south in Ethiopia, which has built dams in the Nile River that Egypt says threatens its water lifeline. After their meeting in Cairo, the Chinese and Egyptian leaders issued a joint statement. In it, China affirmed support for Egypt's Nile water rights and its, quote, "legitimate right to safeguard its water and food security," and Egypt reiterated its position that Taiwan is a, quote, "inalienable part" of Chinese territory. Aya Batrawy, NPR News. (SOUNDBITE OF FUUBUTSUSHI'S "BOLTED ORANGE") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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