China's Xi to visit Egypt for first time in decade as military, Huawei ties grow
The visit comes as Chinese telecoms giant Huawei seeks to supply more than 2,000 advanced AI chips for Egyptian government data centers.
China’s President Xi Jinping is set to make his first trip to Egypt in a decade next week as military and tech ties grow.
The visit comes right after Chinese-Egyptian military drills that started last weekend and as Chinese telecoms giant Huawei seeks to supply more than 2,000 advanced AI chips for Egyptian government data centers. Huawei's move prompted Washington to consider backing a rival offer from US technology companies.
What happened: Xi will visit Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as part of an Aug. 30-Sept. 3 trip that will also take him to Kyrgyzstan, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
In Egypt, Xi will meet Sisi to discuss bilateral ties and international issues of common concern. Senior officials from the two BRICS member countries will also hold talks.
Huawei, meanwhile, has submitted a bid to provide 1,408 of its high-end Ascend 950-series chips for AI training and cloud computing, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter and documents it reviewed. The company has offered another 600 chips — either the Ascend 950 or the earlier 910B model — for two inference clusters that would run AI models after they have been trained.
Before arriving in Egypt, Xi will attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. He will also meet Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and participate in official events, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a media briefing on Wednesday.
Why it matters: Xi’s first visit to Egypt since 2016 comes amid deepening political and economic ties between the two countries, particularly in defense, industry and manufacturing. The trip also coincides with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China in 1956.
Trade between the two countries rose from $17.38 billion in 2024 to $20.8 billion last year, according to official data. The trade relationship remains heavily tilted in Beijing’s favor, however, with Chinese exports accounting for nearly $19.9 billion of the total, compared with just $819 million in Egyptian exports.
China has also expanded its industrial footprint in Egypt, particularly in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. The China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Ain Sokhna, developed as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, has attracted more than 200 companies, most of them Chinese-funded.
The two countries have long maintained close military ties and regularly conduct joint exercises. Most recently, Egypt and China launched the Eagles of Civilization 2026 air exercise on Aug. 22, which included training in planning and managing aerial combat.
The Huawei bid comes as US-China competition over AI and advanced technology expands across the Middle East, with Egypt emerging as an increasingly important market. If accepted, Huawei’s offer would give the company a significant foothold in Africa’s second-largest economy and potentially a platform from which to expand its AI business across the wider region.
Know more: After learning of Huawei’s bid, the US State Department reportedly contacted major US technology companies including AMD, Microsoft and Nvidia about forming a consortium to counter the offer, Bloomberg reported.
