Egypt is one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with China. The first trade agreement between the two governments was signed in 1955. At the beginning of 1956, China first opened the commercial counselor's office in Cairo and the two nations established formal diplomatic relations in the same year. In 1985, a new trade agreement was signed, stipulating that bilateral trade would be settled with convertible foreign exchange from then on (all the transactions had been settled under clearing agreement for nearly 30 years before). In March 1995, the two countries signed an economic and trade agreement to replace the 1985 trade agreement and bilateral trade has developed smoothly in recent years. In 1999, China became the sixth trading partner of Egypt¡£In 2002, Sino-Egyptian trade volume reached US$945 million, of which China's exports to Egypt were US$ 853 million and imports from Egypt US$ 92million. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the improvement of bilateral trade balance and has undertaken various measures to enlarge import from Egypt. In the first quarter of 2003, Egypt's exports to China were US$ 30.5 million, with the growth of 65.8% compared with the same period of last year.

The main categories of China's export to Egypt are mechanical and electronic products, light industrial products, chemicals, metals and minerals and textiles, etc. The main imports are crude oil, steel, cotton, linen, petrochemicals and aluminum materials, etc.

At present there are 18 representative offices of Chinese enterprises in Egypt. In June 1998, China (Egypt) Investment Development and Trade Promotion Center was established to provide diversified services to Chinese enterprises coming to Egypt for trade and investment.

China has been providing various aid to Egypt since 1956 by helping to establish a brick factory, explosive factory, Cairo International Conference Center, Remote Education system, etc, as well as providing training program for Egyptian industrial and agricultural technicians, and supplying some other materials.

China and Egypt signed bilateral investment protection agreement in April 1994 and agreement on avoiding dual taxation and tax evading in August 1997. In October 1997, the two governments signed letter of intent on mutual-beneficial economic and technical cooperation to encourage Chinese enterprises to establish joint ventures in Egypt. By 2002, Chinese businessmen have set up 76 investment projects in Egypt with the share of capital reached US$ 50 million and they are still exploring new investment opportunities are being explored.

In recent years, the fields of bilateral cooperation have been widened and deepen. China and Egypt signed numbers of agreements and protocols, such as: the Protocol of Cooperation in Agriculture; the Agreement on Cooperation of Animal Health and Quarantine, the Agreement on Cooperation of Vegetarian Quarantine; the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Petroleum; the Agreement of Cooperation in Tourism. The direct flight between Egypt and China was resumed in January 2003.