Authoritarian regimes in the Global South diffuse compelling narratives of China, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its development success to reinforce authoritarian practices discursively. A case illustrative of this process is that of Egypt under President Abdul Fatah el-Sisi. An analysis drawing on strategic narrative theory highlights that the el-Sisi regime has been deploying a persuasive narrative on China, its development experience and the BRI to reinforce authoritarianism discursively under the pretext of preserving the state’s sovereignty and achieving progress and the public good. Such a process is called Authoritarian Reinforcement (AR).