Egypt and China are looking to deepen their technology relationship, with telecommunications, artificial intelligence and space sciences identified as priority areas for technology transfer in the next phase of their strategic partnership.
The technology focus comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Egypt on 1 September and the two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations.
In a signed article published to mark the anniversary, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi wrote that cooperation between the two countries extends to promoting technology transfer in telecommunications, artificial intelligence and space sciences, which he described as key priorities for economic and technological development and promising avenues for expanding cooperation in the next phase of the strategic partnership.
For Egypt's technology sector, however, the relationship is not starting from zero. A series of agreements signed with Chinese technology companies in 2024 already put AI, semiconductors, cloud computing, data centres, fibre optics and telecom manufacturing on the bilateral technology agenda.
The question now is how much of that planned cooperation moves from agreements into implementation.
Technology becomes part of the next phase
President Xi's visit comes as Egypt and China seek to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership the two countries established in 2014.
In the same article, El-Sisi identified advanced industries as an important area for additional Chinese industrial investment, listing electric vehicles, energy-storage batteries, renewable energy, electronics, components for seawater desalination plants, shipbuilding and other advanced industries. Technology transfer in telecommunications, AI and space sciences was identified separately as another priority.
On the Chinese side, President Xi published his own signed article in Egyptian newspapers, saying China stands ready to deepen its comprehensive strategic partnership with Egypt and calling for deeper exchanges and cooperation in areas including education, tourism, science and technology, health, sports and archaeology.
Together, those statements put technology firmly within the next stage of bilateral cooperation.
Read more: Cairo Stream
