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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday arrived in Cairo for a state visit to Egypt.

In a signed article published in Egyptian media outlets on Tuesday ahead of his state visit to the country, Xi said China stands ready to deepen its comprehensive strategic partnership with Egypt, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

In the article, Xi called on China and Egypt to enhance mutual trust and set an example of carrying forward friendship. The two sides should continue supporting each other on core interests and major concerns, and deepen exchanges and cooperation at various levels and across all sectors to ensure that the baton of friendship is passed on from generation to generation, he said, Xinhua reported. 

The article is titled "Celebrating 70 Years of Solidarity, China and Egypt Embark on a New Journey," which was published by Al-Ahram, Al-Akhbar and Al-Gomhuria media outlets. 

Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Over the past 70 years, no matter how the international landscape has changed, China-Egypt relations have remained on course, retained their strong foundation and maintained their momentum, some Chinese observers said. 

Against the backdrop of a turbulent and rapidly changing international environment, the visit is not only a milestone in carrying forward the two countries' 70-year friendship, but will also chart a new course for deepening the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership, they noted. 

'Warm welcome'

With just days to go before the Chinese leader's arrival in Cairo, Chinese elements have begun appearing across the streets and neighborhoods of the ancient city, as a warm atmosphere of welcome steadily builds.

Driving along Salah Salem Road, one of Cairo's major thoroughfares, Global Times reporters could already see welcome signs reading "Egypt-China Friendship." The national flags of Egypt and China were also flying along roadsides in a number of neighborhoods. Even before the official visit begins, the warmth of the Egyptian welcome has already reached the streets.

At Ain Shams University, one of the earliest universities in Egypt to establish a Chinese language department, Global Times reporters encountered an even more vivid sign of China's cultural presence. Upon seeing the Chinese journalists, several young Egyptian students spontaneously greeted them in Chinese: "Ni hao!"

Twelve-year-old Egyptian girl Rafif was one of them. She told the Global Times reporters that she also has a Chinese name, "Meiyu." She enjoys learning Chinese and has always hoped to have the opportunity to visit China someday. When talking about China, she excitedly opened her notebook and showed the reporter drawings of buildings from Egypt and China, including Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower.

Rafif loves drawing, and she also has a small wish that one day, she hopes to take her drawings to China and show them to her Chinese friends.

Kamal, a young Egyptian man working at the pyramids tourist site, does not speak Chinese, but he told the reporter that his dream for the future is to work in China. 

"Chinese people are great. It is precisely because they are so hardworking that China has developed so quickly. It is very strong in both technology and trade," he said.

From the Chinese and Egyptian flags fluttering along Cairo's major thoroughfares, to a natural "Ni hao" on a university campus, and to the Oriental Pearl Tower drawn in a 12-year-old Egyptian girl's notebook, people-to-people friendship between China and Egypt does not always appear in grand forms. It can be found in an unexpected encounter on the street, a greeting in Chinese, or a picture of a Chinese landmark drawn by a child.

For the upcoming visit, these details unfolding across the streets and neighborhoods of Cairo may well be the most vivid and heartwarming footnotes to the friendship between China and Egypt. 

"The relations between Egypt and China are very deep and comprehensive. So I think the expectations are very high, because we have great expectations for the mutual interests between Cairo and Beijing," Dr. Osama Al Saeid, editor-in-chief of major Egyptian media outlet Al-Akhbar, told the Global Times in Cairo. 

This veteran Egyptian media representative said he believes that China and Egypt have very similar approaches to their relations with the world and with other countries. Both countries are committed to respecting other countries, and they also seek peace and stability in the world.

"Therefore, I think China and Egypt share a mutual interest in promoting world peace and creating win-win relationships, not only between Egypt and China, but also between other countries," he said. 

Far-reaching significance 

In recent years, China-Egypt relations have been deepening under the guidance of the two heads of state and are now at their best in history. For over a decade, Xi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have met more than 10 times, providing strategic guidance for the continued expansion of bilateral cooperation, Xinhua said.

President Xi's visit to Egypt comes as China and Egypt mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, the Global South gains growing collective momentum, and the Middle East faces intertwined crises and conflicts, Liu Xinlu, vice president of Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

The visit is not only an opportunity to look back on and pay tribute to seven decades of bilateral ties, but also to chart a comprehensive course for China-Egypt relations in the years ahead, the expert said. 

Under the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy, the two countries will continue to deepen the alignment of their development strategies, expand cooperation in emerging fields, strengthen coordination among Global South countries, and advance the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level and across broader areas, setting an example for solidarity and cooperation among developing countries, Liu added. 

Egypt is a key player in the Middle East, and we have been working to stop wars, especially in Gaza and in relation to Iran, Saeid told the Global Times. 

"I think China also has a vision for promoting peace in the Middle East. China also supports the Palestinian people's right to establish an independent state," he said, noting that China is expected to play a role in supporting Egypt's efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region. 

Some Chinese observers believe the visit comes as the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East has been going through a profound change in the past decade. 

"Ten years ago, Middle Eastern countries still had relatively high expectations of the US while the evolution of the regional order was still at an early stage. Today, as US global influence is contracting, the former dominant force in the international order is increasingly creating conflicts in an effort to maintain its hegemony," Li Weijian, a vice president of the Chinese Association of Middle East Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

The visit can inject new vitality into the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership and further deepen bilateral cooperation. With Egypt serving as an important pillar, the two countries can help uphold the principle of peace and development amid turbulence in the Middle East and demonstrate that development is a fundamental key to addressing regional conflicts and challenges, Li said.