China’s Xi to hold talks with Sisi in rare visit to Egypt

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Cairo for a state visit to Egypt at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, on Sept. Upon the arrival, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his wife welcomed Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the Cairo International Airport. China's president Xi Jinping (left) listens to his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi upon his arrival at Cairo International Airport.

(AFP pic)CAIRO: Chinese president Xi Jinping is set to hold talks Wednesday with his Egyptian counterpart on his first visit to Cairo in a decade, under the shadow of looming US sanctions over financial links to Iran.Xi arrived in Cairo Tuesday evening with First Lady Peng Liyuan.They were received by Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and First Lady Entissar Amer.On their way off the tarmac, they were greeted by a troupe of folk dance performers and flanked by two rows of teenagers wearing T-shirts bearing photos of Xi.The two-day visit is expected to see the presidents sign a slate of economic agreements and discuss the fallout from the US-Iran war.According to analysts, Cairo will use the summit to underscore its strategic autonomy, showing it can leverage its close ties with both Washington and Beijing.Sisi, in an op-ed published in Egyptian media on Tuesday, highlighted Cairo's "independent foreign policy", days after a branch of Egypt's second-largest bank was targeted by US sanctions.Washington vowed last month to isolate Iran economically, threatening expanded sanctions that could also hit Chinese banks, among others.China, a major buyer of Iranian oil, has vowed to safeguard its interests.In the lead-up to an expected meeting between Xi and US president Donald Trump this month, it has also sought to shore up ties with US-friendly regional nations.Egypt is one of the largest recipients of US military aid, and historically a key Middle East mediator.Last week, the US Treasury announced sanctions on the Emirati branch of Egypt's Banque Misr for alleged support to Iran.Boosting investment In his editorial, Sisi wrote that Egypt and China were partners in "strengthening the role of the global south" in an increasingly polarised world.Egypt - which under Sisi's administration became one of the world's top weapons buyers - hosted major joint air combat exercises with the Chinese military in August, featuring Beijing's powerful J-16 fighter jet.Across Cairo, a megalopolis home to over 26 million people, major streets have been lined with Chinese and Egyptian flags, as well as billboards showing Sisi and Xi.Street signs boast of "generations of Egyptian-Chinese friendship flowing like the Nile River", while reside…