China’s President Xi Visits Egypt, Offers Financial, Political Support

This article was originally published by Reuters:

China signed investment and aid deals worth billions of dollars with Egypt during a visit by President Xi Jinping on Thursday and expressed support for Cairo’s efforts to maintain stability, which have included a crackdown on dissent.

Xi arrived in Egypt on Wednesday on the second leg of a Middle East tour that signals China’s push for greater influence in a region that provides vital oil supplies.

The visit, just before the Jan. 25 anniversary of the 2011 uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak, is seen in Egypt as a vote of confidence in President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s administration, whose human rights record has attracted criticism elsewhere.

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