Xi's speech on era of opportunity in Cairo welcomed by observers

On steps to promote stability in the region, Xi said China will "set up a China-Arab research center on reform and development".

To boost structural adjustment, Xi said China may sign more currency swap and mutual investment agreements, expand RMB settlement services and accelerate investment facilitation.

Both China and the Middle East will steer the investment fund and private capital of the two parties toward major projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

Li Shaoxian, a senior expert in Middle East studies at Ningxia University in Yinchuan, the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, said: "Political stability and economic re-invigoration - the two key elements for ensuring regional stability are inseparable from each other".

Taking Egypt as an example, Li said huge endeavors have been made to resume its domestic stability, "but problems may return if its economy does not recover quickly".

He Wenping, a senior expert on Middle East studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, observed that the Middle East - standing at the intersection of Europe, Asia and Africa - enjoys a profoundly strategic location and "it is undergoing a critical phase as it rolls out political restructuring and social transformation".

"China has not been absent from Middle East affairs, it has been increasingly proactive when conducting peaceful diplomacy with the region in recent years … and co-building the Belt and Road Initiative may be a part of the peaceful diplomacy," He said.