The first Egyptian-Chinese archaeological mission in Egypt is the outcome of a protocol of cooperation signed between the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. They formed a joint Egyptian-Chinese archaeological mission to do the excavation work of the relics at Montu Temple, which was untouched and closed to visitors for decades.

The first season of the joint mission started in late November 2018 and continued for about four months.

In a recent interview, the head of the Chinese archaeological mission Jia Xiaobing explained that further excavation and documentation work has been undertaken during the second season of the Egyptian-Chinese archaeological mission at the Montu Temple.

Meanwhile, Saghir says Egyptian archaeological teams at the Karnak Temple complex took advantage of last year's pandemic-related closure to restore the 29 statues of rams in the first courtyard of the Karnak Temple.