The 65th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Egypt: Join Hands to Build a Community of Destiny

The 65th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Egypt: Join Hands to Build a Community of Destiny
Source: Economic Daily-China Economic Net

Reporter: Tian Shida

May 30 this year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt. Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with New China. Although the two countries are separated by thousands of rivers and mountains, they have always shared destiny, unity and cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results for 65 years. Standing at a new starting point, China and Egypt will push the comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level and work together to build a model for China-Arab and China-Africa community with a shared future.

fruitful economic and trade cooperation

Economic and trade cooperation is the ballast and propeller of China-Egypt relations. Under the framework of joint construction of the "Belt and Road" cooperation, China and Egypt have actively strengthened strategic docking, and economic and trade cooperation has flourished. Even affected by the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, economic and trade exchanges between the two countries remain close.

Zhou Zhencheng, Minister Counsellor of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, told reporters that with the acceleration of economic recovery in China and Egypt and the further boost of domestic demand, the bilateral trade volume in goods reached 4.176 billion billion US dollars in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 32.14 percent over the same period last year. This is the first time since the outbreak of the epidemic that China-Egypt imports and exports have achieved "double growth" year-on-year ". Egypt's exports of oil and gas, copper, ammonia and other products to China have grown strongly, while China's exports of mechanical and electrical products, vehicles, furniture and other products to Egypt have rebounded steadily.

"Similar to the economic and trade exchanges, China-Egypt investment cooperation has also maintained a very good momentum of development. China has become the most active and fastest growing country in recent years to invest in Egypt." Zhou Zhencheng said that as of the end of last year, China's direct investment in Egypt has exceeded 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, involving oil and gas exploration and development, industrial manufacturing, and service industries. In the first quarter of this year, China's direct investment in Egypt was 83 million billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 134 percent against the impact of the epidemic, further highlighting the potential for cooperation between the two sides. At present, the two companies are discussing cooperation in the fields of electric vehicles, agriculture, and smart transportation.

It is worth noting that the industrial park is becoming a good platform for Chinese enterprises to invest in Egypt. China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is an industrial park with the best comprehensive environment, the largest investment density and the highest unit output in Egypt. As of the end of April this year, the project has attracted a total of 102 companies to settle in, with cumulative sales of more than US $2.5 billion, and taxes and fees of nearly US $0.176 billion, directly solving about 4000 jobs, and the industry has driven more than 36000 jobs.

At the same time, in the vast desert 50 kilometers east of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, tall buildings are rising from the ground. China Construction Egypt Branch is building the Central Business District (CBD) of Egypt's new administrative capital here. The project covers an area of about 505000 square meters and a construction area of about 1.9 million square meters. The construction of most of the high-rise main structures is nearing completion, and the 385.8-meter-high "Africa's tallest building" is about to be completed here. It will not only become a new landmark building in Egypt, but also a "representative work" of high-level economic and trade cooperation between China and Egypt ". In early February this year, Egyptian Prime Minister Madbouli praised "this is a great project" after inspecting the CBD project ".

Not only that, Chinese builders are also working hard to build apartment buildings and supporting businesses with a total construction area of 1.1 million square meters for Egypt, a suburban light rail with a total mileage of 66 kilometers, and a container terminal on the banks of Suez Bay to help Egypt improve its infrastructure. Level, improve people's living conditions.

Deepening Cooperation in Anti-epidemic

An Arab proverb says that "a friend who appears in times of difficulty is a true friend", and the Chinese also say that "a friend in need is a true friend". After the outbreak of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, the Egyptian side immediately sent a letter of condolences to the Chinese leader, and Egyptian Health Minister Zayed subsequently visited China as a special presidential envoy with anti-epidemic supplies.

Give me a peach and give me Qiong Yao. Zhou Zhencheng told reporters that China is one of the earliest and largest countries to provide anti-epidemic assistance to Egypt. China has provided Egypt with four batches of anti-epidemic aid materials, conducted 10 expert video exchanges, established two groups of counterpart cooperation hospitals, and assisted in the establishment of mask production lines. China has also provided Egypt with 3 batches of 1 million doses of vaccine assistance and 1.5 million doses of vaccine commercial procurement and supply, and cooperation in localized vaccine packaging and production is also under way. As a result, Egypt became the first country on the African continent to cooperate with China in the production of new crown vaccines.

On May 21, a new batch of Chinese medicine vaccines and the first batch of Kexing vaccine stock solution purchased by Egypt from China arrived in Cairo. Zayed said that China has made outstanding contributions to Egypt's diversification of vaccine sources and the promotion of post-epidemic economic recovery, setting an example for the international community to fight the epidemic. The vaccines produced in Egypt will be exported to the Middle East and Africa to help fight the epidemic after meeting its own needs.

China and Egypt share weal and woe and overcome difficulties together, and continue to deepen cooperation in the fight against epidemics, laying a solid foundation for building a community of destiny between China and Egypt.

Fate and go hand in hand

"China has always placed Egypt in an important position in the overall situation of China's diplomacy." Liao Liqiang, Chinese ambassador to Egypt, said that China and Egypt are good friends, good partners and good brothers who trust each other. China-Egypt relations represent the "height" of China-Arab and China-Africa relations, and have become a model of China-Arab and China-Africa unity and cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation and a model of South-South cooperation.

Huang Hui, an associate professor in the Arabic Department of the School of Foreign Languages of the University of International Business and Economics, told reporters that after 65 years of international changes, China-Egypt relations have always developed steadily, mainly due to political and economic reasons.

The key to the firm progress of China-Egypt relations lies in the continuous consolidation of political mutual trust. Huang Hui said that Egypt was the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with New China. The political mutual trust between the two countries is not only rooted in the traditional friendship of ancient civilizations, but also deepened in the modern anti-imperialist and anti-colonial movement. After the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1956, Sino-Egyptian relations of friendship and mutual trust continued to develop. The two countries firmly support each other's core concerns, hold similar views on international affairs, advocate peaceful coexistence between countries, and are committed to safeguarding the interests of developing countries. Under the solid political mutual trust, the development of China-Egypt relations has shown a good momentum.

China-Egypt cooperation has yielded fruitful results, driven by adherence to mutual benefit and win-win results. Huang Hui said that Egypt has a strong will to strengthen economic and trade relations with China. Historically, China-Egypt cotton trade opened the door to economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. In the field of trade, Egypt's high-quality agricultural products and handicrafts are welcomed by the Chinese market, which not only meets the consumption needs of the Chinese people, but also improves Egypt's trade structure. In the field of investment, projects such as industrial parks supported by China have accelerated the formation of industrial clusters and improved Egypt's independent development capabilities, which are in line with the "Egyptian 2030 Vision. In addition, the two sides also have broad space for cooperation in infrastructure construction, high and new technology, resource processing and other fields.

"After the baptism of working together to fight the epidemic, the China-Egypt community of destiny has become stronger, which has strategic significance beyond bilateral relations." Huang Hui said that the development of China-Egypt relations has important exemplary significance and leading role in China-Arab and China-Africa cooperation. It is believed that the two sides will take the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as a new starting point, continue to enrich the connotation of China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership, and continue to work together in their respective countries. In the process of development and national rejuvenation, we will make new efforts to build a model for China-Arab and China-Africa community with a shared future.