Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming Egypt visit arrives at a time when geopolitical conflicts are raging in different parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East.
Few questions seem more pressing today than how different civilizations can live together in peace rather than descend into confrontation.
To engage with different civilizations, Xi believes, requires a mind broader than the sky.
“We should encourage different civilizations to respect each other and live in harmony, to turn exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations into a bridge promoting friendship between peoples around the world, an engine driving human society, and a bond cementing world peace,” Xi said in 2014 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Xi’s insights were also reflected in the 2016 signed article, in which he noted that the Chinese civilization and the Arab Islamic civilization are major civilizations of the world each with its unique features.
“We value and learn from each other,” Xi wrote. “Such mutual learning, based on mutual respect and humility, sets a great example for exchange among different civilizations.”
In 2023, Xi proposed the Global Civilization Initiative, which aims to bring peoples of different countries closer and promote inclusiveness and mutual learning among civilizations. The initiative has won broad recognition in the Arab world and beyond.
China and Egypt, both ancient civilizations of the world, are also major countries in the Global South that are striving to build a better and more just world for all. Their flourishing relations in recent years are a concrete example of how different civilizations can coexist and cooperate while preserving their distinct identities.
Ahmed Kandil, head of the International Relations Unit at Egypt’s Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said the two countries today enjoy broad strategic convergence on major international issues, including reform of global governance, support for a multipolar world order, respect for diverse development paths, and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.
This May, Xi and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi exchanged congratulations to mark the 70th anniversary of bilateral ties. In his message, Xi said China and Egypt should draw wisdom and strength from history, embrace the shared mission of pursuing peace, promoting development, advancing cooperation and upholding justice, and inject strong momentum into building a community with a shared future for humanity.
Former Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said the Global Civilization Initiative, along with a series of other global public goods proposed by China, responds to the challenges of the times. It highlights Xi’s profound insight into the global landscape and the future of humanity as “a true thinker,” he said.
As Xi revisits Egypt to give fresh impetus to bilateral ties, the friendship between the two ancient civilizations will, as he once put it, surge forward like the Nile.
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