Chinese President Xi Jinping met Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Beijing on Wednesday, state media showed.
Xi and Sisi met outside Beijing's Great Hall of the People, a feed from state broadcaster CCTV showed, as Beijing hosts a number of Arab leaders and dignitaries for a forum aimed at deepening ties.
Beijing is hosting Arab dignitaries and diplomats in hopes of deepening ties with the region.
President Sisi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as well as a host of other regional leaders and diplomats, are among the delegates attending the forum.
Build ties
Beijing has sought to build closer ties with Arab states in recent years, and last year brokered a detente between Tehran and its long-time foe Saudi Arabia.
It has also historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
And Beijing last month hosted rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah for "in-depth and candid talks on promoting intra-Palestinian reconciliation".
President Xi Jinping is set to deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony on Thursday, Beijing has said, aimed at building "common consensus" between China and Arab states.
Top of the agenda will be the war between Israel and Hamas, which Xi has called for an "international peace conference" to resolve.
Arab world
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with counterparts from Yemen and Sudan in Beijing, saying he hoped to "strengthen solidarity and coordination" with the Arab world.
He also raised China's concerns over disruptive attacks on Red Sea shipping by Iran-backed Huthi forces acting in solidarity with Hamas with his Yemeni counterpart Shayea Mohsen al-Zindani.
"China calls for an end to the harassment of civilian vessels and to ensure the safety of waterways in the Red Sea," state news agency Xinhua quoted him as saying.
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