On May 18, 2021, the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs organized, in cooperation with the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development (CARC) (a think tank based in Shanghai, sponsored by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education, and including former Chinese ambassadors to the Middle East), a virtual symposium on Egypt-China relations on the 65th anniversary of their establishment, in Cairo, in coordination by the Chinese Embassy in Cairo. It dealt with four axes: Arab-China cooperation in an evolving Middle East – major powers’ relations and Arab-China cooperation – The Belt and Road Initiative “post-Covid-19” Egyptian-Chinese relations post-pandemic (politically, economically, scientifically, artistically and culturally).

The symposium emphasized the strong Egypt-China relations and their importance for both sides. The two sides reviewed the progress in bilateral relations between the two countries in various fields, especially during the last decade, whereby they expressed their satisfaction with what has been achieved and the advanced level that these relations have reached thanks to the mutual trust of the political leadership in both countries, and the reliable partnership between them.

On the other hand, the symposium reviewed the existing cooperation programs between the two countries and the new executive program for the period 2021-2026, including Chinese industrial investments in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the business district project and the surrounding area in the New Administrative Capital, the design and construction project of five residential towers in the city of New Alamein, and the electric train project, connecting the cities of Al-Salam, the New Administrative Capital and the 10^th of Ramadan. The two sides discussed joint cooperation in connection with the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Egyptian side was keen to confirm its interest in strengthening existing and new partnerships within the framework of the initiative.

Participants also agreed on the common denominators between the Chinese vision of global governance and the Egyptian foreign policy orientations, including the concept of “building a community with a shared future for mankind”, and therefore all countries must work together as one power, leading to an international order based on peace and justice and achieves development and prosperity for all.

Accordingly, the participants agreed on the need to preserve the United Nations and its specialized agencies, as the best option for providing effective guarantees for global governance. The special importance of international cooperation to combat the “Covid-19” pandemic was also stressed, in order to ensure a sustainable and coherent global health system, and in this context, reference was made to the mutual support between the two countries to confront the pandemic as well as the China-Egypt cooperation in the field of the Coronavirus vaccine, as the two countries signed an agreement to produce the Chinese vaccine in Egypt.