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Xi’s SCO and Egypt trip
Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek as part of a state visit to Kyrgyzstan, before travelling to Egypt from August 30 to September 3, according to Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“from August 30 to September 3”
At the SCO summit, Xi will discuss deepening cooperation as well as major international and regional issues, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a daily news conference on Wednesday.
In Kyrgyzstan, Xi will hold talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Sadyr Japarov, and attend various state events during the trip, Lin said.
In Egypt, Xi will meet President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for talks aimed at “making a positive contribution to safeguarding peace and stability in the region”, Lin said.
The state visit, Xi’s first to Egypt in 10 years, “holds special significance for the development of bilateral ties”, Lin added.
Kyrgyz ties and Egypt drills
Beijing said Xi will travel to Bishkek on Sunday and conclude his trip next Thursday, with Xi’s visits arranged at the invitation of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Anadolu Ajansı reported.
In Bishkek, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China and Kyrgyzstan were “good neighbors” and “are good friends of mutual trust and good partners with common pursuit.”
The Anadolu Ajansı report said bilateral trade has grown to more than $27 billion in recent years, and Lin described the upcoming trip as an opportunity to “promote high quality development.”
Xi’s Egypt visit is set against joint air force drills dubbed “Eagles of Civilisation,” with the PLA Air Force deploying J-16 fighter jets, YU-20 aerial tankers, KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft and Z-20 helicopters.
Anadolu Ajansı said the Chinese aircraft flew about 6,000 kilometers (3,730 miles) to Egypt last week before joint drills began Saturday, while Egypt is deploying French-made Rafale fighter jets.
SCO agenda and regional context
An Al Jazeera explainer said leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, including Xi Jinping, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are set to gather in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek for an annual summit.
“Together for Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity”
It said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also attending, and that the summit marks 25 years of its existence, with a two-day summit starting on Monday.
The same Al Jazeera piece described the summit as taking place under the motto: Together for Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity, and said Xi, Putin and Modi will be joined by leaders of Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, among others.
Al Jazeera quoted senior analyst William Yang, who said, “For years, SCO has been viewed as one of the avenues for China to promote the multipolar world order and form its own bloc with other developing countries.”
It also said the summit comes as the world grapples with the aftermath of the US-Israel war on Iran and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, upending global energy and financial markets.