Egypt, China take steps to boost trade and business cooperation

With Egypt and China — the world's two most ancient civilizations — creating more favorable conditions to enhance the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Egypt's Vision 2030, their trade and business cooperation will be further enriched in the years ahead, market watchers and business executives said.

Launched in 2016 by the Egyptian government, the North African country's Vision 2030 is a unified long-term political, economic and social vision, having been developed in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The vision also sets a target to cut greenhouse gases by 10 percent from the energy sector, including oil and gas, by 2030 compared to 2016 levels, information released by the International Energy Agency based in Paris said.

As both countries are keen to follow the path to green and innovation-led growth, they will expand cooperation in production capacity, infrastructure, new energy, agriculture and modern services, as well as high-tech industries, opening new prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation in the coming years, said Wang Xueling, a researcher specializing in regional economic development at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

Benefiting from the complementary trade structure and tangible growth of the BRI, the total value of China-Egypt trade soared 37.3 percent on a yearly basis to nearly $19.97 billion in 2021, data from China's General Administration of Customs showed.

Egypt's exports to China include fruits, foodstuffs, cotton, spices, marble, plastics, petroleum products, linens, glass and cowhide. China ships mainly computers, telecommunication and medical equipment, trains, trucks, diesel oil, steel, medical equipment, textiles and household appliances to Egypt.

Egypt succeeded in attracting Chinese investments under the BRI framework, and one of the flagship projects is the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, as it has gradually become one of the important platforms for China-Egypt economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges, information released by the Egyptian embassy in Beijing said.

The zone had attracted 96 companies across China and the world, such as Sichuan Honghua Petroleum Equipment and Xiamen Yanjan New Material by the end November, with about 40 of them from the manufacturing sector.

Aside from growing the real economy, China and Egypt also deepened cooperation in developing vocational education, as well as helping the country to build a technical training center project, said Fang Qiuchen, president of the China International Contractors Association, which helps Chinese construction companies expand their business overseas.

He said that Chinese companies will play a key role in improving Egypt's industrialization and proving that building modern infrastructure facilities will help the country put its economic growth on a firmer footing.

For instance, several ministries of Egypt's government moved to the country's new administrative capital city early this year. The new administrative capital is about half an hour's drive from Cairo and is expected to help relieve the pressure on the current capital's population, alleviate traffic problems, create jobs and attract foreign investment.

Contracted by China State Construction Engineering Corp, the central business district project in the new administrative capital city of Egypt included construction and engineering of 20 high-rise buildings and their supporting municipal projects.

The big-ticket project covers about 505,000 square meters and its iconic 385.8-meter tower is the tallest building in Africa, said Yuan Hao, CSCEC's chief designer for the CBD project.