Sino-Egyptian Relations Post-2013: The Dynamics and Challenges of an Emerging Strategic Partnership

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/arabstudquar.43.4.0349
• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Date: 01 October 2021
• Pages: 349-370
• Author: Gamal M. Selim,Rania S. Moaaz
• Subject Matter: China,Egypt,strategic partnership,development,Belt and Road Initiative,Beijing Consensus

ASQ 43.4 Produced and distributed by Pluto Journals

Gamil M. Selim is Associate Professor of Political Science, British University in Egypt and Port Said

University.

Rania S. Moaaz is PhD Candidate of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo

University.

SINO-EGYPTIAN RELATIONS POST-2013:

THE DYNAMICS AND CHALLENGES OF AN

EMERGING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

Gamal M. Selim and Rania S. Moaaz

Abstract: In 2014, China and Egypt upgraded their bilateral relations to the level of

comprehensive strategic partnership, providing a new framework under which both states

have been able to intensify and deepen their cooperation as never before. Building on the con-

cept of strategic partnership as a newly emerging framework of international cooperation,

this article examines the dynamics of the Sino-Egyptian comprehensive strategic partnership

from the perspective of the driving motivations of both actors, its policy manifestations as

well as its potential challenges in the future. The article contends that while the Sino-Egyptian

comprehensive strategic partnership has offered an ideal framework of win-win bilateral

cooperation that corresponded to the strategic interests and needs of both actors in a

critical historical juncture post-2013, this framework, which involves a number of imbed-

ded limitations, might not continue to serve bilateral interactions in the medium and long

terms, particularly as it pertains to their future corresponding security and economic concerns.

Keywords: China, Egypt, strategic partnership, development, Belt and Road Initiative,

Beijing Consensus

Introduction

In 2014, China and Egypt embarked on a new stage in their bilateral relations with

the establishment of the first comprehensive strategic partnership between the two

countries.1 The new partnership has set the stage for the deepening of Sino-Egyptian

interactions in an unprecedented manner, leading to an upgrade in the level of bilat-

eral cooperation over various issues. The significance of the Sino-Egyptian strategic

partnership may be conveyed from multiple perspectives. From a bilateral perspec-

tive, the Sino-Egyptian strategic partnership has emerged in the context of rising

national aspirations in China and Egypt to undertake significant transformations both

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internally and externally. In China, President Xi Jinping articulated the concept of

a Chinese Dream in 2013 as a national project for a prosperous China in the future.

According to Jinping, the Chinese Dream is a comprehensive strategy for “national

rejuvenation, improvement of people’s livelihoods, prosperity, construction of a bet-

ter society and military strengthening.” 2 While the Chinese Dream has primarily

dealt with domestic achievements, it has also incorporated an international dimension

as China has to deal with the risks emanating from the international system, capitalize

on opportunities, and create international conditions conducive to the fulfillment of

its dream (Wang, 2014: 8–10). In Egypt, following the June 2013 uprising, President

Sisi expressed a similar sentiment, centered on the concept of national rejuvenation.

The Egyptian Dream has entailed the implementation of comprehensive socioeco-

nomic development domestically, and the restoration of Egypt’s influential role in

regional and international politics.3 The Chinese Dream being articulated at the same

time as Egypt has been advocating its own national dream accounts for the warm

reception of the Chinese Dream in Egypt, which has sought to draw lessons from Chi-

na’s strategy, while exploring the prospects for convergence between the two dreams.

From a global perspective, the significance of the Sino-Egyptian strategic partnership

stems from the wider context of China’s partnership diplomacy. The Sino-Egyptian

partnership can be described as a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” categorized

at the highest level in terms of China’s partnership diplomacy with the outside world,

thereby reflecting Egypt’s strategic pivot for Chinese interests at the global level.4

From a regional perspective, one could observe the significance of the Sino-Egyptian

partnership in the wider context of China’s partnership record in the Middle East. The

Sino-Egyptian partnership represents the first comprehensive strategic partnership

China has established in the Middle East, which reflects the centrality of Egypt in

China’s regional strategy (Sun, 2020; Fulton, 2019).5

Given this significance, this article aims to critically analyze the present dynam-

ics and future prospects of the emerging Sino-Egyptian comprehensive strategic

partnership. It seeks to examine the context under which the Sino-Egyptian strate-

gic partnership has emerged, focusing on the motivations of both actors and the

constraints they face; delineate its policy manifestations in terms of the new areas

of cooperation; and explore the potential challenges that might impede its momen-

tum and sustainability in the future. In addressing these issues, the article will

build on the concept of “strategic partnership” as a newly emerging framework of

inter-state interactions in international relations. This offers a new conceptualiza-

tion of the process of inter-state cooperation; a field of investigation that, until the

end of the Cold War, had been dominated by the traditional concept of “align-

ment.” Unlike the strategy of rigid, threat-driven alliances between like-minded

states, strategic partnerships tend to function as goal-driven and pragmatic frame-

works of cooperation between states for the attainment of joint interests and