Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (L)
© The Egyptian Presidency / ReutersEgyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) shake hands after their joint press conference following their meeting in Cairo, Egypt, January 21, 2016.
Beijing and Cairo have signed a number of joint projects during the official visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Egypt.

"The sides have agreed to cooperate in over 15 projects in the electricity, transport and infrastructure sectors. It is expected investment will reach $15 billion," Xi told reporters during a joint news conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi.

Several of the projects had already started, said Xi, adding that China wants to participate in the construction of Egypt's new administrative capital.

The countries signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation on the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road economic projects.

They also agreed to develop the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone which could bring over 100 companies to work in Egypt and create more than 10,000 jobs. Chinese entrepreneurs have already invested about $500 million in the project and are expected to invest another $2.5 billion.

Other China-Egypt agreements cover such areas as electricity, space, infrastructure, trade, energy, finance, culture, media, technology and climate change.