China’s Qingdao Sifang to design, develop 22 trains for Egypt

CAIRO – 8 October 2018: Chinese CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd. has signed a deal with the Egyptian National Railways to design and develop 22 trains with wind and sand resistant system.

According to Chinese media outlets, these trains will be equipped with 132 carriages for the railway linking Cairo to the 10th of Ramadan. The trains will be designed to travel at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour on a 68 kilometer railway with 11 stations. The Company has offered a 12-year maintenance service for the trains.

Earlier in November, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly praised the positive role played by the Egyptian-Chinese Business Council to strengthen relations between the two countries. During his participation in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) on behalf of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, attended by the Chinese President Xi Jinping, Madbouly, Madbouly called on all delegations to have a look at the Egyptian products and what the country has to offer.

Madbouli thanked the Chinese president and people for inviting Egypt to attend the event as a guest of honor. This invitation mirrored China's keenness on boosting trade and economic cooperation with Egypt, he said.

China is Egypt's fourth largest trade partner and Egypt is also China's fourth largest trade partner in the African continent, Madbouli said.

According to the 2017 statistics, bilateral trade between the two countries reached 11 billion dollars with the trade balance tilted towards the Chinese side. This demonstrates the importance of heightening joint efforts for balanced trade between the two countries.

However, Since President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi came to power, the relationship between Egypt and China has developed.

Five Egyptian-Chinese summits have been held in the last three years which means that about one-third of all summit meetings between the two countries in history were held by Sisi’s presidency in only three years.