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A mechanism for other countries to join the group was already underway, officials said.","Speaking Tuesday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the new grouping would \u201cmake an important contribution to peace and stability in the region and the world,\u201d describing it as rooted in \u201cregional ownership and collective deterrence.\u201d","Under the agreement, Saudi Arabia will host the alliance\u2019s secretariat, which will be headed by a Pakistani secretary-general for a three-year term. The three countries also reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening defense capabilities, expanding cooperation in military industries and jointly developing production and technology.","The steps announced mark the evolution of the agreement from a mutual-defense pledge into an institutional framework for security and defense coordination. That framework encompasses the development of military capabilities, defense industries and mechanisms for joint action, while leaving the door open to additional members in the future.","Yusuf Katiboglu, a member of Turkey\u2019s ruling Justice and Development Party, told MBN that the Mecca agreement represents a \u201ccooperative security and defense alliance\u201d distinct from bilateral cooperation agreements.","Its purpose, he said, is to deter potential threats to member states and potentially provide a framework for broader regional security cooperation.","Retired Saudi Maj. Gen. Abdullah Ghanem al-Qahtani said the alliance goes beyond responding to immediate threats and is intended to build a strategic deterrent capable of preventing threats, expansionist ambitions and encroachment while bolstering regional security.","Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the joint defense agreement in Mecca on Aug. 7. It stipulates that an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all of them.","President Donald Trump \u00a0described the pact in an Aug. 16 Truth Social post as a \u201cbig, bold, and important first step.\u201d He said the agreement reflected regional countries \u201ccoming together\u201d and their ability to defend themselves more effectively.","The White House and the State Department declined further comment.","Elizabeth M. Dent, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Washington would not necessarily view the alliance as a competitor to existing U.S. security arrangements in the region. She told MBN that it was consistent with the American policy of encouraging partners to take on a greater role in providing for their own security. Washington\u2019s assessment of the alliance, she said, would ultimately depend on how it operates in practice.","Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said in a post on X on Monday that the kingdom would continue implementing the Mecca agreement in ways that strengthen \u201cjoint political and defense integration\u201d and support security and stability.","Qahtani said the alliance\u2019s strength lies in the complementary capabilities of its three members: Saudi Arabia\u2019s political and economic weight, Pakistan\u2019s nuclear capabilities and strategic location, and Turkey\u2019s industrial strength. Together, he said, those assets could enhance the alliance\u2019s ability to build a credible regional deterrent.","In that context, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the three countries would work to strengthen their defense capabilities and the cohesion of their armed forces through cooperation in defense industries and the joint development of production and technology.","Katiboglu told MBN that Turkey could play a central role in turning the agreement into practical defense cooperation through the transfer of technology and military and industrial expertise, while drawing on its decades of experience in NATO to strengthen the capabilities of alliance members.","Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the agreement had left the door open for other countries to join, adding that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan were preparing a road map setting out the procedures and conditions for membership.","He said the accession of other countries, including Egypt, was \u201cindeed possible,\u201d while noting that consultations were still underway on membership requirements, procedures and criteria.","Fidan also stressed that the alliance would respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and \u201cis not directed against any country.\u201d","Adapted and translated from the original Arabic."],"audio_source_url":null,"author":"Mustafa Khatib","available_dubs":[],"downloadable_assets":[],"duration_display":"0:00","duration_seconds":null,"embed_url":null,"id":14123,"image_caption":null,"image_url":"https://i0.wp.com/alhurra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-08-31T102801Z_1444947647_RC2L9NAK0EI2_RTRMADP_3_TURKEY-SAUDI-PAKISTAN-MEETING.jpg?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=1","is_clip":false,"is_youtube_embed":false,"item_type":"article","item_type_label":"Article","language_label":"English","media_credit":"Mustafa Khatib","micro_label":"Photo","micro_label_kind":"gallery","network_label":"Alhurra","network_logo_url":"/static/uploads/direct_network_logos/alhurra_d529a7a850f2.png","published_at":"2026-09-03T13:49:18","published_at_display":"3 Sep 2026, 13:49 GMT","sequence_badge_label":null,"sequence_count":null,"sequence_count_label":null,"sequence_frames":[],"sequence_kind":null,"source_name":"alhurra","source_name_label":"Alhurra","source_type":"scrape","summary":"The Mecca Defense Alliance took a significant step toward becoming a formal regional security bloc this week, as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed to establish a permanent secretariat in the kingdom under the new joint defense pact. The move gives institutional shape to an alliance built around collective deterrence and regional responsibility. A mechanism [\u2026]","title":"\u2018Mecca Alliance\u2019 Opens Door to Expansion","topic":"Politics & Policy","translation_language":"","url":"https://alhurra.com/en/37518","video_url":null,"youtube_conversion_active":false,"youtube_conversion_error":"","youtube_conversion_status":""},{"article_body_paragraphs":["As the G20 gathers in North Carolina this week, the presidents of China, Russia and Iran are headlining a counter-summit of sorts in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organization\u2019s annual meeting is taking a shove at the post-Cold War order Washington built.","Watching closely are leaders in the Middle East, many of whom have been hedging between Beijing and Washington. China\u2019s Xi Jinping is working to make his country\u2019s appeal more attractive.","Xi\u2019s positioning. In Bishkek, Xi proposed deeper cooperation among the 10 members of the SCO, which was expanded in 2023 to include Iran. The Chinese leader advocated regional governance built around dialogue and proposed an ambitious schedule of 100 joint science-and-technology projects between SCO states and their 15 so-called dialogue partners in the Middle East and North Africa, including Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, and Turkey.","On security, Xi\u2019s language was sharp, as he called on countries to \u201crigorously guard against external forces interfering in the internal affairs of countries, endangering political security, and undermining regional stability.\u201d","Most countries, Xi said, reject power politics and want their own seat at the table through development, not confrontation; a handful of countries dominating world affairs is \u201ca historical injustice,\u201d and \u201cone country\u2019s hegemony\u2026 bloc politics\u201d is not genuine multilateralism, he said. He didn\u2019t name the United States, but his target was unmistakable.","Xi Visits Cairo Amid a U.S.-China AI Contest","Xi\u2019s itinerary matters as much as his words: from Bishkek he heads to Egyp t, which China sees as a key partner in the Middel East, then on to India for a summit of the BRICS group of major emerging economies. He is expected to meet later this month with U.S. President Donald Trump.","Iran testing the waters. Iran\u2019s delegation, led by President Masoud Pezeshkian, arrived in Bishkek with its country enmeshed in war with the U.S., which is dialing up the sanctions crushing Iran\u2019s economy. As Washington pressures other governments to cut off Iran entirely or risk further exclusion from the dollar-based world economy, there were plenty of expressions of solidarity with Iran but little of substance to offer it much relief. One exception: the SCO Development Bank, a potential workaround to dollar-based settlement.","Is the \u201cShanghai Spirit\u201d just for show? Founded in 2001 by China, Russia and four Central Asian states to resolve border disputes and fight terrorism, separatism and extremism, the SCO has since added Iran (2023) and Belarus (2024), growing to ten members and looking more like a bloc every year.","Singapore-based commentator Deng Mingjie, speaking to the BBC, called the organization\u2019s structure \u201ca China toolbox wrapped in a consensus banner\u2026 no one is required to become an ally.\u201d","That structuyre, Henry Tugendhat of the Washington Institute told MBN, encourages Egypt and the Gulf states \u201calways seek relationships with both\u201d Washington and Beijing. The SCO doesn\u2019t demand loyalty \u2014 which is why hedging states have no reason to fear it.","Previewing the Trump-Xi summit. As Xi heads to Cairo, Washington will be watching the fate of Huawei\u2019s bid for Egypt\u2019s AI data center. Tugendhat told MBN: \u201cI\u2019d imagine Xi Jinping will encourage his Egyptian counterparts to accept Huawei\u2019s bid\u201d \u2014 even as the State Department\u2019s \u201cPax Silica\u201d push warns governments off rival Chinese AI coalitions.","Tugendhat said that Xi has started with the easy part \u2014 a congenial conference in Kyrgyzstan and a warm welcome in Cairo before he travels to the White House on Sept. 23.","\u201cHe is starting with the conversations that he will have most control and influence over, whereas the U.S. meeting will be the hardest to prepare for,\u201d Tugendhat said, \u201cChina will want to structure as much as possible\u2026 that is it the opposite of how Trump likes to operate.\u201d"],"audio_source_url":null,"author":"Vivian Lee","available_dubs":[],"downloadable_assets":[],"duration_display":"0:00","duration_seconds":null,"embed_url":null,"id":14134,"image_caption":null,"image_url":"https://i0.wp.com/alhurra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-09-01T065625Z_1717613564_RC26ANAZU27Z_RTRMADP_3_SCO-SUMMIT-KYRGYZSTAN.jpg?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=1","is_clip":false,"is_youtube_embed":false,"item_type":"article","item_type_label":"Article","language_label":"English","media_credit":"Vivian Lee","micro_label":"Photo","micro_label_kind":"gallery","network_label":"Alhurra","network_logo_url":"/static/uploads/direct_network_logos/alhurra_d529a7a850f2.png","published_at":"2026-09-01T23:54:59","published_at_display":"1 Sep 2026, 23:54 GMT","sequence_badge_label":null,"sequence_count":null,"sequence_count_label":null,"sequence_frames":[],"sequence_kind":null,"source_name":"alhurra","source_name_label":"Alhurra","source_type":"scrape","summary":"As the G20 gathers in North Carolina this week, the presidents of China, Russia and Iran are headlining a counter-summit of sorts in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organization\u2019s annual meeting is taking a shove at the post-Cold War order Washington built. Watching closely are leaders in the Middle East, many of whom have [\u2026]","title":"What the SCO Summit Reveals About Beijing\u2019s Bet on the Middle East","topic":"Politics & Policy","translation_language":"","url":"https://alhurra.com/en/37169","video_url":null,"youtube_conversion_active":false,"youtube_conversion_error":"","youtube_conversion_status":""},{"article_body_paragraphs":["Egyptian and Chinese flags have proliferated along roads in Cairo and Giza, around Cairo International Airport and near the Grand Egyptian Museum in anticipation of Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s arrival Tuesday.","Xi\u2019s three-day state visit, his first to Egypt since 2016, coincides with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Egypt was the first Arab and African state to establish relations with the People\u2019s Republic of China in 1956.","The anniversary offers both governments an opportunity to highlight a partnership that has expanded into infrastructure, trade, telecommunications, space technology, defense and artificial intelligence. Behind the official celebrations, however, is a more practical question: Why has Egypt become so important to China?","The answer lies in a combination of geography, market access and regional influence. Egypt, with a population of more than 100 million, controls the Suez Canal and sits between Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. For Chinese companies, it is both a large market and a possible manufacturing and logistics base for reaching other countries.","\u201cXi Jinping does not travel much,\u201d Henry Tugendhat, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told MBN. \u201cThe fact that this is his second visit to Egypt is significant.\u201d","Cairo is a fortuitous destination for other reasons, too, Tugendhat suggested. The trip allows Xi to visit a tense Middle East without appearing to favor either Iran or China\u2019s Gulf partners, while embracing a country with which Beijing has longstanding political ties.","A Visible Chinese Footprint","China\u2019s presence in Egypt is reflected in some of the country\u2019s largest projects. A Chinese state-owned construction company built the central business district in Egypt\u2019s New Administrative Capital, including the Iconic Tower, Africa\u2019s tallest building.","Chinese companies have also participated in the light rail system linking Cairo with the New Administrative Capital and with 10th of Ramadan City, the industrial agglomeration northeast of the capital.","In the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the China-Egypt TEDA cooperation zone attracted more than 200 companies and created more than 10,000 direct jobs by the end of June, according to official figures cited by China\u2019s Xinhua news agency.","The zone gives Chinese manufacturers access to Egyptian ports and allows products made locally to reach African, Arab and European markets under Egypt\u2019s trade agreements. It also positions Chinese companies close to one of the world\u2019s most important shipping routes.","But the economic relationship between Beijing and Cairo is far from balanced.","During the first six months of 2026, Egypt imported goods worth $10.438 billion from China while exporting about $600 million in the opposite direction, according to figures published by Asharq Business. That amounts to trade deficit for Egypt of approximately $9.84 billion.","\u201cThat is a huge trade imbalance,\u201d Tugendhat said.","While Egypt is likely to seek greater access to the Chinese market, he added, it faces difficulty competing with Chinese companies that benefit from industrial scale, government-supported export financing and lower borrowing costs.","\u201cThere is not a lot on the horizon that Egypt can do to reverse this imbalance in a significant way,\u201d Tugendhat said, adding that regional African markets may offer Egyptian manufacturers better opportunities than China itself.","Investment or Lending?","Egyptian business officials estimate accumulated Chinese investments in the country at about $10 billion, while the number of registered Chinese companies had reached 3,971 by the end of June 2026.","However, figures for actual investment flows present a more limited picture. Net Chinese foreign direct investment in Egypt reached $226.5 million in 2025, representing about 1.5 percent of Egypt\u2019s total net foreign direct investment. Chinese capital inflows during the first half of 2026 were $24.8 million, down from $29.75 million during the same period in 2025.","The figures measure different things \u2014 accumulated investment, registered companies and annual net flows \u2014 but the gap illustrates why announced projects do not always translate into immediate capital entering Egypt.","Tugendhat also warned against describing every Chinese-funded project as an investment.","\u201cChina lends a lot of money,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is different from investing. It is lending, and they expect to get the money back.\u201d","Chinese infrastructure financing is often tied to the use of Chinese contractors, machinery and other inputs, he added.","In May, Egypt approved a $200 million concessional loan from the Export-Import Bank of China to finance the third phase of the 10th of Ramadan railway. The loan carries a 2 percent interest rate, a 20-year maturity and a five-year grace period and will be repaid in Chinese yuan.","The arrangement provides Egypt with infrastructure and long-term financing, but it also ensures business for Chinese banks, contractors and equipment suppliers.","From Satellites to Artificial Intelligence","The partnership has increasingly moved into sectors that carry strategic and security implications.","China helped finance a satellite assembly and testing facility in Egypt and supported the MisrSat-2 remote-sensing satellite, launched from China in December 2023. Egyptian officials say the project transferred technical knowledge and gave Egypt greater local capacity.","Reuters reported, however, that much of the satellite\u2019s construction took place in China and that Chinese engineers remained involved at Egypt\u2019s Space City. The head of the Egyptian Space Agency said the satellite\u2019s data belonged to Egypt and that the Chinese engineers were there to install equipment and train Egyptian staff.","Technology cooperation has also expanded through agreements involving Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese companies. These cover cloud computing, telecommunications equipment, an Arabic-language artificial intelligence model, chip-design research and technical training.","Huawei has separately proposed building artificial intelligence data-center infrastructure for the Egyptian government. Bloomberg reported that the project could include military, surveillance and other public-sector applications. The U.S. State Department contacted Nvidia, AMD and Microsoft about preparing a possible American alternative.","\u201cWashington cares and China cares,\u201d Tugendhat said of strategic digital infrastructure. \u201cThey both view this as a zero-sum game.\u201d","He said Washington is more likely to intervene when Chinese involvement concerns sensitive infrastructure, such as artificial intelligence systems, telecommunications or ports.","\u201cIf we are talking about AI data centers, then the United States wants to compete,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we are talking about solar panels or construction services, it may not.\u201d","Security Ties Without Replacing Washington","Military cooperation has also become more visible. Egypt and China held their first joint air exercise in 2025 and followed it with another exercise in 2026 involving combat aircraft from both countries.","Tugendhat cautioned against viewing the exercises or Chinese arms sales as evidence that Cairo is replacing Washington with Beijing.","Egypt has long sought weapons from multiple suppliers, including the United States, France, Russia and China. Its military and security relationship with Washington remains far broader than its defense ties with Beijing.","\u201cAlmost every country in the region wants a functional relationship with both the United States and China because they get different things from those relationships,\u201d Tugendhat said.","China supplies goods, infrastructure and financing that regional countries need, he explained, while the United States remains a major source of military assistance, investment and security guarantees.","Shaping the Narrative","China\u2019s strategy also extends beyond contracts and infrastructure. Beijing has invested in Arabic-language media, cultural exchanges, scholarships and Chinese-language education.","Tugendhat said Chinese state outlets, including Xinhua and CGTN, make content freely available to local media organizations that may lack correspondents or specialist knowledge inside China.","China is effectively \u201cflooding the zone with its own content,\u201d he said, allowing Beijing to exert greater influence over how its policies and projects are presented abroad.","For Egypt, the relationship offers infrastructure, equipment, financing and an additional major-power partner. For China, Egypt offers a large consumer market, a base near the Suez Canal, access to regional markets and an entry point into strategic sectors ranging from satellites to artificial intelligence.","The measure of the partnership will not be the number of agreements announced during Xi\u2019s visit. It will be whether those agreements increase Egyptian production, exports and technical capacity \u2013 or deepen a relationship in which Chinese goods, financing and technology continue to flow largely in one direction."],"audio_source_url":null,"author":"Ahmed Elfeky","available_dubs":[],"downloadable_assets":[],"duration_display":"0:00","duration_seconds":null,"embed_url":null,"id":14149,"image_caption":null,"image_url":"https://i0.wp.com/alhurra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-31-163016.jpg?fit=786%2C508&ssl=1","is_clip":false,"is_youtube_embed":false,"item_type":"article","item_type_label":"Article","language_label":"English","media_credit":"Ahmed Elfeky","micro_label":"Photo","micro_label_kind":"gallery","network_label":"Alhurra","network_logo_url":"/static/uploads/direct_network_logos/alhurra_d529a7a850f2.png","published_at":"2026-08-31T20:43:05","published_at_display":"31 Aug 2026, 20:43 GMT","sequence_badge_label":null,"sequence_count":null,"sequence_count_label":null,"sequence_frames":[],"sequence_kind":null,"source_name":"alhurra","source_name_label":"Alhurra","source_type":"scrape","summary":"Egyptian and Chinese flags have proliferated along roads in Cairo and Giza, around Cairo International Airport and near the Grand Egyptian Museum in anticipation of Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s arrival Tuesday. Xi\u2019s three-day state visit, his first to Egypt since 2016, coincides with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Egypt was [\u2026]","title":"Why Egypt? What China Wants from Its Partnership with Cairo","topic":"Politics & Policy","translation_language":"","url":"https://alhurra.com/en/36842","video_url":null,"youtube_conversion_active":false,"youtube_conversion_error":"","youtube_conversion_status":""},{"article_body_paragraphs":["Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to arrive in Cairo on Tuesday for a three-day state visit, his first to Egypt since 2016.","The visit comes as Egypt considers a proposal from Chinese tech giant Huawei to build artificial intelligence data-center infrastructure for the government. While the project is formally a tender for computing equipment and services, it figures into the wider technology competition between the United States and China.","According to documents and people familiar with the proposal cited by Bloomberg News , the infrastructure would be used for military, surveillance and other public-sector operations.","Huawei has offered to supply 1,408 Ascend 950 processors for training AI models and 600 Ascend 950 or older 910B processors for running those models across two computing clusters. The company proposed completing the project within 12 months.","If completed, the project could mark the first known export of Huawei\u2019s Ascend AI processors after more than a year of efforts to sell them overseas, Bloomberg reported.","Egypt has not selected a supplier for its AI project, and it remains unclear whether a formal American counterproposal has been submitted.","What Is an AI Data Center?","Mohamed Azzam, a board member of the International Association for Management of Technology, told MBN that traditional data centers mainly store information and run routine applications, including databases, accounting programs and online services.","An AI data center relies on specialized processors that can rapidly analyze large amounts of unstructured data, such as video, images and text. It can also train AI models to identify patterns and produce predictions or responses.","Azzam said the computing capacity could support applications in healthcare, education, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, public utilities and smart-city management.","He said the proposed 2,008-processor capacity is smaller than major facilities in the United States and Europe, some of which contain tens of thousands of processors. He described it as an initial step that could support medium-sized government and business applications.","Nvidia processors currently provide greater computing power and better-established software tools, Azzam said. Huawei\u2019s processors, however, offer a less expensive alternative that may be easier to obtain as U.S. restrictions limit access to some advanced American technology.","Washington\u2019s Response","After learning of Huawei\u2019s proposal, the U.S. State Department contacted Nvidia, AMD and Microsoft about preparing an American alternative, according to Bloomberg.","Bloomberg reported that U.S. technology diplomacy and American AI companies had previously focused more heavily on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Huawei\u2019s proposal has now brought Egypt into Washington\u2019s discussions over the overseas expansion of Chinese AI infrastructure.","Why Egypt?","The competition surrounding the project extends beyond Egypt\u2019s domestic demand for computing capacity.","With a population exceeding 100 million, Egypt has one of Africa\u2019s largest markets and a large pool of engineers and technology graduates. Its location connects Africa and the Middle East with Europe and Asia.","International submarine cables pass through Egyptian territory and waters, making the country an important transit point for global telecommunications.","Azzam said Egypt\u2019s combination of market size, local skills and geographical location could allow the center to serve more than government agencies. If universities, engineers and startups gain access to its computing capacity, it could support applications for Arab and African markets where AI infrastructure remains limited.","The proposal also builds on several years of expanding technological cooperation between Egypt and China.","Huawei launched a cloud region in Cairo in 2024 and announced plans to invest $300 million in Egypt over five years.","In September 2024, the two countries announced five technology agreements. The plans included worker training, expanding Huawei\u2019s local operations, research in chip design, an open-source Arabic language model, and a technology investment fund targeting as much as $300 million.","Surveillance and Data Security","Documents reviewed by Bloomberg showed that Huawei\u2019s proposal also includes technology from iFlytek for identifying people and vehicles using national databases, as well as surveillance systems covering urban areas.","Cybersecurity consultant Mohamed Magdy told MBN that storing servers inside Egypt represents only one part of data sovereignty. Their physical location, he said, doesn\u2019t guarantee local control of the software, encryption keys and system updates.","Access to those elements would be required for Egypt to truly exert national control over the systems, Azzam said. Those safeguards would be particularly important, he added, if the infrastructure is connected to government agencies, military systems, population records or citizens\u2019 financial and health information.","Long-Term Dependence","Relying on one company for processors, software and cloud services could create a long-term dependency, Azzam said. Moving to another supplier later could require major investment and the rebuilding of some systems, although he said the same risk could arise with Western providers.","Egypt could reduce that risk by training local engineers, involving Egyptian companies in operation and maintenance, and enabling universities and startups to develop and train AI models, Azzam said.","Without genuine knowledge transfer, he added, the project could increase dependence on foreign technology instead of building domestic capacity.","Huawei and iFlytek have been on the U.S. Commerce Department\u2019s Entity List since 2019, although for different stated reasons. In 2025, the department issued guidance warning that using some Huawei Ascend processors could violate U.S. export controls under certain circumstances.","Azzam said tighter American restrictions could affect future deliveries of chips or software updates, including after the center begins operating, exposing the project to changes in relations between Washington and Beijing.","He also argued that U.S. restrictions could encourage China and other countries to develop alternative technologies more quickly and lead developing countries to purchase available non-American systems, even when their performance lags behind leading U.S. products.","Egypt has not disclosed the value of Huawei\u2019s offer, whether an American counterproposal has been submitted, or when it expects to make a final decision."],"audio_source_url":null,"author":"Ahmed Elfeky","available_dubs":[],"downloadable_assets":[],"duration_display":"0:00","duration_seconds":null,"embed_url":null,"id":14151,"image_caption":null,"image_url":"https://i0.wp.com/alhurra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2024-05-30T061146Z_1206768985_RC2P08AL26L1_RTRMADP_3_CHINA-ARABSTATES.jpg?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=1","is_clip":false,"is_youtube_embed":false,"item_type":"article","item_type_label":"Article","language_label":"English","media_credit":"Ahmed Elfeky","micro_label":"Photo","micro_label_kind":"gallery","network_label":"Alhurra","network_logo_url":"/static/uploads/direct_network_logos/alhurra_d529a7a850f2.png","published_at":"2026-08-31T20:15:21","published_at_display":"31 Aug 2026, 20:15 GMT","sequence_badge_label":null,"sequence_count":null,"sequence_count_label":null,"sequence_frames":[],"sequence_kind":null,"source_name":"alhurra","source_name_label":"Alhurra","source_type":"scrape","summary":"Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to arrive in Cairo on Tuesday for a three-day state visit, his first to Egypt since 2016. The visit comes as Egypt considers a proposal from Chinese tech giant Huawei to build artificial intelligence data-center infrastructure for the government. While the project is formally a tender for computing equipment [\u2026]","title":"Xi Visits Cairo Amid a U.S.-China AI Contest","topic":"Politics & Policy","translation_language":"","url":"https://alhurra.com/en/36836","video_url":null,"youtube_conversion_active":false,"youtube_conversion_error":"","youtube_conversion_status":""}],"next_num":null,"page":1,"pages":1,"per_page":20,"prev_num":null,"total":4}