Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Egypt seeking to build closer ties with the key US ally as instability spreads across the Gulf. Relations between Beijing and Cairo — the recipient of billions of dollars in military aid from Washington — have improved as China takes a more assertive role in the Middle East, analysts noted.
Xi’s overseas trips, including a recent meeting with the leaders of Russia and India and next week’s BRICS summit, come as he looks to project China’s geopolitical heft ahead of planned talks with US President Donald Trump. “The decline in overall US strength … [has] prompted Middle Eastern countries to look further east towards China,” an expert told the Financial Times.
