ChinAfrica: How do you see the development of China-Egypt bilateral relations over the past 65 years? What are the highlights of the development?

Mohamed El Badry: The 65th anniversary marked a very special relationship between Egypt and China. The relationship has passed through several phases, and perhaps the initial phase was the establishment of the relationship itself. Egypt was the first African, Middle-Eastern, and Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with China. We were very enthusiastic about it. During that time, China was an integral part of the non-alignment movement that we were part of. It was a very important phase for the establishment of the structure of the relationship.

Now we are at what I might call the third phase of the relationship, which is the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries. And here we are very proud that it was decided to go beyond the strategic partnership during the visit of State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China to Egypt in January 2020.

Since Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi was elected to office in 2014, we have had six visits to China by Sisi, either bilateral or within the multilateral fora, such as the Belt and Road or the G20.

We also had a visit by His Excellency President Xi Jinping to Egypt. It was a very fruitful visit. We have developed our relationship with China in many aspects, including economy, culture and trade.

Chinese companies have made major contributions in the renaissance phase inside Egypt. Regarding the establishment of the new administrative capital, for example, we have Chinese construction company China State Construction Engineering Corp. (CSCEC) building the commercial and business district in the new administrative capital as well as the towers of Alamein. We also have Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA) working in the Suez Canal economic zone. So, the relationship has seen a monumental rise and is expected to go to new horizons.

In the past decades, China and Egypt have been cooperating in various areas such as business, medical care, trade, etc. What is your vision for future China-Egypt ties? In which sectors do you think China and Egypt need to strengthen cooperation?

I think that since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Egypt and China have developed very close relationship. I believe that the fight against COVID-19 would be a very important aspect or segment of the relationship. It represents a new springboard for the bilateral relations. Right now, we are undergoing negotiations with Sinovac to establish industrial capacity in Egypt to produce the vaccine for Egypt and for Africa. Previously, we had a lot of cooperation with Sinopharm. Even before that, during the COVID-19 crisis early last year, we had Egyptian assistance coming to China, and at the moment China was able to control magnificently the spread of the disease, they started assisting Egypt when COVID-19 arrived in Egypt. We had a lot of official assistance and also assistance from the Chinese in our purchase of medical equipment necessary for the fight against the virus.

There are new horizons for the relationship. Regarding what we need to focus on during the post-COVID-19 era, I would probably suggest tourism, because the balance of trade between the two countries is close to $14 billion. For every dollar that we export, we import from China what's worth $13. The balance of trade is lopsided. It could be slightly balanced, or majorly balanced, if the two countries strengthen cooperation in tourism with more Chinese tourists in Egypt. However, due to the fact that we are in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions, we are unable to work on it yet. However, we expect that it can be on the agenda for the years to come.

The winner of the First CHINAFIRCA Short Video Competition hosted by BEIJING REVIEW, which ChinAfrica is affiliated with, was an Egyptian girl. What's your opinion about the people-to-people contact between our two countries?

People-to-people contact is a very important aspect in any kind of relationship between two states. If you don't focus on the people-to-people aspect, the whole relationship becomes devoid of humanitarian contact and eventually will affect the other aspects of the relationship.

That's why it is also worth noting here that this is an integral part of the Belt and Road Initiative. We believe that this is going to be undertaken primarily through culture and education. In both fields, I think we are doing well. But there is a large area for improvement. We can really improve this sort of bilateral exchanges between the two countries. Things like tourism can also fall within this realm. Because when you have Egyptian tourists coming to China, they are in touch with the Chinese culture. The people are getting in touch. The same thing happens with the Chinese tourists in Egypt. We need to expand on what we have and have new innovative techniques for people-to-people contact.

Traditionally, a lot of Egyptians students come to China especially for postgraduate, as well as post-doctoral, studies. And Chinese students go to Egypt to learn the Arabic language in universities in Egypt, especially Al-Azhar University.

Besides this, we need to expand it. Because whoever comes and lives in China for four or five years, when he goes back, he carries a part of China. And there is a sort of spillover within his circles of friendship, his family, his acquaintances, and people within his network. Culture, films, exchanging platforms for antiques and things like that are other avenues. Especially, there's a very big fascination for Egyptian history in China, especially the ancient Egyptian civilization. All of these are things we have to work on to enhance the people-to-people contacts.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding this year. What's your opinion about the role of the CPC as a ruling party in the development of China?

I think that the CPC played an instrumental role in the modern history of China. It was able to establish the state with a very strong foundation and a very strong system of governance for the benefit of the people.

I think one of the fundamental things is the fact that it was able to adapt to the different circumstances, internally and globally. They were able to do it with a lot of vision, with a lot of integrity, with a lot of visionary targets that they have tried to reach.

The Chinese miracle, the Chinese developmental miracle that we are all witnessing, is the fruit of the work of the CPC. It is really an institution worth studying, worth learning from and seeing how it was able to achieve the Chinese miracle. 

(Print Edition Title: Expanding Horizons) 

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