Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Egypt and met President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
In the joint statement that followed, Beijing lent clear support to Cairo’s core positions on the Nile and the Red Sea.
China recognized the Nile as Egypt’s vital lifeline and affirmed Egypt’s legitimate right to protect its water security, food security, and development interests. The two sides called on all Nile Basin countries to abide by international law, including the obligation not to cause harm.
On maritime security, they stated that governance and security of the Red Sea rest primarily with the littoral states, whose will must be fully respected. They also stressed that stability in the Horn of Africa requires respect for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the countries of the region.
For Egypt, that language is a diplomatic win. It reinforces Cairo’s view that Red Sea access and rules should be set by the states that actually border the sea—not by non-littoral actors. Egypt has long argued that any attempt by a landlocked state, including Ethiopia, to secure a Red Sea presence by bypassing or undermining the sovereignty of Eritrea or Somalia would violate that principle.
The China–Egypt statement does not name Ethiopia, but it aligns with Cairo’s strategy of backing Eritrea and Somalia against arrangements that would weaken their territorial integrity and open the Red Sea to states that do not border it.
The meeting thus combined history and hard geopolitics: seventy years after Egypt became the first Arab and African country to recognize the People’s Republic of China, the two presidents framed their partnership as mutual support—on the Nile, on the Red Sea, and on the rule that neighboring states, not outside claimants, decide the fate of their waters and borders.