Egypt’s tourism, antiquities minister seeks to boost ties

The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt Sherif Fathy expressed his desire to enhance cooperation with China in the fields of tourism and archaeology at a press conference in Cairo on Tuesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.   

The call has won active response from Chinese cultural and archaeological experts, who said the cultural exchanges between the two countries have achieved fruitful results and highlight China's role as an active advocate for cultural heritage protection and dialogue among civilizations.

Fathy told Xinhua that the relationship between Egypt and China is very solid, and it has thrived following the visits of the two heads of state and the wide-ranging and productive cooperation between the two nations, including the ongoing exhibition On Top of the Pyramid: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt being held in China.

In July, the exhibition kicked off at the Shanghai Museum, bringing Chinese visitors a cultural feast composed of some 788 artifacts from different periods of ancient Egypt, from statues of pharaohs and anthropoid inner coffins to gold jewelry. Over 95 percent of the exhibits are being displayed in Asia for the first time, according to the museum.

"Two of the world's four ancient civilizations, the ancient Egyptian and Chinese civilizations have many historical similarities," said Chu Xiaobo, director of the museum, adding that there has been little official cooperation between China and Egypt in exhibitions before. 

"This time we finally realized our dream," he said.

Media reported that the exhibition has earned big thumbs-up among Chinese visitors, many of whom have claimed that these Egyptian artifacts are "priceless and unprecedented."

During the press conference, Fathy expressed his anticipation for expanding cultural exchanges and archaeological collaboration with China, a country that shares a long history and a brilliant civilization with Egypt, quoting the successful example of the joint archaeological project at the Montu Temple in Luxor, Egypt. 

According to media reports, the two countries launched the joint project in 2018. This marked the first time a Chinese archaeological team had conducted excavations in Egypt since the founding of the People's Republic of China. 

In mid-March, the joint archaeological team resumed excavation work at the Montu Temple site after a pandemic-induced hiatus and has since achieved abundant results.

Jia Xiaobing, the Chinese head of the joint archaeological project and director of the world archaeological research office at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the latest collaboration with the Egyptian team has achieved a deeper understanding compared to his initial experience in 2018.

According to a report released by the China-Egypt joint archaeological team, two excavation sites are the focuses of the current round of work. The first site is in the southwestern part of the entire Montu Temple area, where six Osirian Chapels are distributed from west to east. 

Except for the first and second temples, which have accurate dates and names, more information about the other temples awaits archaeological discovery. 

The second site is located at the junction of the Montu Temple and the Maat Temple. The focus there is on resolving architectural sequence issues.

"Archaeology is the best way to understand the core of the traditional culture of a nation. Although our working season only lasts two to three months, within this period, we have deepened our understanding of each other's civilizations," Jia said.

He said that China acts as an active advocate for cultural heritage protection and dialogue among civilizations, adding that the international cooperation of Chinese archaeology is "an essential component in implementing the Global Civilization Initiative."

Additionally, Fathy said that Egypt currently attracts approximately 200,000 Chinese tourists annually and that measures will be taken to increase this number. 

Beyond participating in tourism fairs in China, the Egyptian tourism sector will strengthen cooperation with Chinese tourism operators. They plan to explore more strategies to promote cooperation in tourism development through conferences, dialogues, and seminars.

According to the website of ­China's Ministry of Commerce, around 90,000 Chinese tourists visited Egypt in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 178 percent. The tourism authority in Egypt has set a target of welcoming 300,000 Chinese tourists by the end of 2024.