A Model of Mutual Trust
China and Egypt celebrate the 10th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership this year, and it is also Egypt's first year as a BRICS member. Over the past decade, China-Egypt relations have become a vivid example of China's cooperation with Arab, African, Islamic and developing countries for mutual benefit and win-win results.
When China proposed the BRI in 2013, Egypt was one of the first countries to join it. Pragmatic economic cooperation between China and Egypt has yielded mutual benefits.
Egypt's first electrified light rail transit system, jointly built by Chinese and Egyptian companies, is a BRI success story, reflecting the vitality of the initiative and the potential of Chinese railway technology exports to Africa.
The Exadia 500kV substation project in Suzez province in Egypt has been running for more than a year, ensuring the stability and reliability of the power grid and easing shortages in the region's electricity consumption.
A new large container terminal at the Ain Sokhna Port on the Red Sea, developed by an international consortium led by China's Hutchison Ports, will be operational by 2025. The terminal, 2,600 meters long and with a total area of 1.6 million square meters, will be Egypt's largest container terminal, making an important contribution to the development of the Suez Canal corridor.
China launched Egypt's remote sensing satellite MisrSat-2 aboard its Long March-2C carrier rocket in 2023. The Earth observation satellite is being used by Egypt to improve its land and resource management, water conservation, agricultural productivity and coastal change monitoring.
China sees Egypt as an important investment destination. Chinese investors are present in the free industrial zones being built in the country, such as New Alamein City and the Suez Canal Economic Zone. China is one of Egypt's largest trading partners and Chinese exports to Egypt have grown at an average annual rate of more than 14 percent over the past 25 years. Egypt's exports to China have grown at an average annual rate of nearly 18 percent over the same period.
Egypt's membership in BRICS officially came into effect this January. It is expected to give momentum to the development of Egypt and bring in benefits for the country.
Egypt's trade exchanges with BRICS members, including founding and new members, amount to 46.673 billion USD — more than a third of its total external trade, according to official data.
Egypt's accession to BRICS will boost investment, provide new export opportunities, and increase foreign investments, as well as deepen economic cooperation and bilateral relations.