They say | behind us, green hope grows thick

They say | behind us, green hope grows thick

Speech at the "Dual Zone Linkage" between Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone and TEDA Cooperation Zone and the First Launch Ceremony of Chinese Used Car Exports to Egypt

Liu Aimin

Today we are here to hold the first ceremony of the export of Chinese second-hand cars to Egypt. As a Tianjin native who has worked in Egypt for more than ten years, I am very excited.

In 2008, my colleagues and I embarked on a journey to the shores of the Red Sea to develop and build the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone on a desert Gobi. When dealing with enthusiastic Egyptians for the first time, I was surprised to find that Egyptians call tea not "tea" in English but (chàyè). Some predecessors told me that as early as more than 1300 years ago, Chinese tea sold well in Cairo and Alexandria through the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, and became an important trade product between China and Egypt. For more than 1000 years, Egyptians have remembered the Chinese pronunciation of tea. At that moment, I drank fragrant tea and listened to the local accent, savoring the long history of trade between China and Egypt.

Over the past ten years in Egypt, I have seen with my own eyes how high-quality and affordable Chinese products have gradually won the favor of the Egyptian people, entered thousands of households, and benefited the lives of ordinary people. From cars, smartphones, white goods, textiles and daily necessities, Chinese goods are everywhere in Egypt, and the annual trade volume between China and Egypt has exceeded 14.5 billion US dollars. Whenever Egyptian friends give me a thumbs up and praise Chinese products "China Great!" At that time, my heart was filled with pride in the fruitful trade between China and Egypt today.

Under the care of the relevant national ministries and commissions, the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, the Municipal Government, and the Binhai New Area District Committee and the District Government, the development and builders of the TEDA Cooperation Zone have worked hard for more than ten years and have become a good platform for investment cooperation between enterprises of the two countries. The benefits and social benefits are very significant. As of the end of June 2021, the TEDA Cooperation Zone has attracted a total of 117 companies to settle in, with actual investment exceeding US $1.2 billion, cumulative sales exceeding US $2.6 billion, and taxes and fees of about US $0.17 billion. It directly solves about 4000 jobs and industry-driven jobs. More than 30000 people.

In particular, since President Xi Jinping visited Egypt in 2016 and personally unveiled the second phase of the cooperation zone, the number of enterprises settled in, the amount of taxes and fees paid, and the number of employed people have been constantly refreshed in the past five years. The TEDA Cooperation Zone has become a demonstration project of Sino-Egyptian economic and trade cooperation and a landmark park in the construction of "Belt and Road Initiative.

While upgrading the form of the park and enhancing the demonstration role of production capacity cooperation, we have always hoped to make full use of the advantages of the TEDA Cooperation Zone to set up a stage for Sino-Egyptian trade. For this reason, we have specially applied for the concession policy of the free trade zone and specially built a bonded warehouse, which has become the best Sino-Egyptian trade platform with policies and services in Egypt.

The second-hand car trade is a key step for the cooperation zone to move towards a comprehensive platform for industrial services and business services. At present, nearly a hundred second-hand cars have entered the park for sale, and they will soon be sold out. Today, the first batch of second-hand cars from China will depart from Tianjin Port and sail along the millennium Maritime Silk Road to the Red Sea and the Suez River, continuing a new chapter in Sino-Egyptian trade on the New Silk Road.

Here, I would like to thank Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Binhai New Area Bureau of Commerce and Investment Promotion, Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone Bureau of Commerce, Tianjin Used Car Export Association, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce Automobile Dealers Chamber of Commerce Used Car Export Special Committee, China Export Credit Insurance Company Tianjin Branch for its strong support to us.

Special thanks to the two partners, Huaxing North Automobile Trading Co., Ltd. and China Aid Import and Export Group Co., Ltd., for their foresight and hand in hand with us to jointly create a new era of second-hand automobile trade between China and Egypt.

There is an old Arab proverb: the oasis on the desert, originally on the horizon, is the footprints of camels, connecting them closely. Today, we step in the footsteps of pioneers. In the future, there will be green hope in the footprints behind us.

The author of this article is the chairman of Zhongfei TEDA Investment Co., Ltd. The text is compiled according to the on-site recording, without my own verification, and the title is added after the editor.