Trade exchange bet. Egypt, China hits $13.8B in 2018

CAIRO -17 June 2019: Trade exchange between Egypt and China increased 27.6 percent during 2018, recording $13.8 billion, according to the latest economic report on Egyptian-Chinese trade and economic relations.

The report, prepared by the Commercial Representative Office in Beijing headed by Minister of Trade Commissioner Mamdouh Salman, revealed that the Egyptian exports exceeded $1.8 billion, with an increase of 37.8 percent on a year-on-year basis.

It said that the economic and trade relations between Egypt and China have witnessed steady growth since the upgrading of the joint relations to the level of strategic partnership after the visit of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to China in 2014.

Salman stressed that the Egyptian Commercial Office in Beijing has set a plan to increase the volume of Egyptian exports and reduce the trade gap between the two countries and succeeded in introducing new commodity items in the Egyptian export system to the Chinese market to include citrus fruits, table grapes and beet feed.

He also noted that his office, in coordination with the parties in both countries, is set to sign a protocol in the near future to allow the export of fresh dates from Egypt to the Chinese market.

The Commercial Representative Office in Beijing has contributed to raising the volume of Chinese investments in Egypt, which according to Chinese data has been estimated at more than $7 billion for some 134 Chinese companies operating in Egypt in various fields and industrial sectors, including fiber glass, and food industry, as well as major projects including the new administrative capital and the economic zone of the Suez Canal, according to the report.