Egypt’s President ratifies economic, technical deal with China

CAIRO – 9 July 2020: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi ratified a cooperation, economic and technical agreement between the governments of Egypt and China, the official Gazette reported.

The agreement, which was signed in the Egyptian capital Cairo last year in November, states that the Chinese government shall hand its Egyptian counterpart a grant of 300 million Chinese yuan ($42.9 million).

Trade between Egypt and China in the first quarter of 2020 reached $3.2 billion, China’s Ambassador in Egypt Liao Liqiang said in June.

In the ninth press conference on the novel coronavirus, Liqiang said the Chinese direct investment in Egypt reached $35 million in the same period and the total investment volume exceeded $7 billion.

Liqiang later, in July, described the Egyptian-Chinese relations as a ‘role model in international relations’ between countries, noting that Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al Sisi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have discussed recently ways to enhance relations between the two states.

In the tenth press conference on the novel coronavirus, Liqiang said that China is very interested in cooperating with Egypt in the health field, adding that ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ will contribute to this matter, as it will represent a way to enhance cooperation between the countries involved in it.

Cairo and Beijing have not halted cooperating in the medical field since the outbreak of the coronavirus, according to Liqiang, as they exchanged information, and medical experience through constant video conference meetings.

Liqiang also stressed that his country will continue offering help and support to Egypt as much as it can.