Xi's visit to highlight China's presence in Mideast

President Xi Jinping will embark on a tour of the Middle East on Tuesday during which he will visit Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran. His first foreign visit to the region, also his first diplomatic tour of 2016, comes at a crucial time for not only Cairo but also the whole of the Middle East.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-Egypt diplomatic relations; in fact, Egypt was the first country in the Arab world to establish diplomatic ties with China. But Egypt, along with many other Middle East countries, is now desperately seeking lasting peace and development to tackle the economic difficulties and social unrest the "Arab Spring" left behind. And this is precisely where China comes into the picture, because it has both the will and capability to contribute to peace and development in the Middle East.

As a traditional major player in the region and home to the Arab League headquarters, Egypt can still lend fresh momentum to China-Middle East cooperation like it did six decades ago. But unlike the bilateral interactions in the 1950s and 1960s, which mainly revolved around mutual political support, Xi's visit is aimed at helping more local people, especially those in violence-prone areas, to enjoy the dividends of economic development.