Ambassador Liao Liqiang's signed article praises TEDA cooperation zone

Source of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website

Original title: Liao Liqiang, Ambassador to Egypt, published a signed article "Upholding the Spirit of the Silk Road and Creating the Future Together" in the Egyptian Middle East News Agency

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the "Belt and Road" initiative, Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang published a series of signed articles in the mainstream media in Egypt, combining the fruitful results of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" in-depth publicity and explanation of the China initiative, China's propositions, and China proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping. The plan vividly expounds the positive progress and significance of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road. On October 24, 2023, the fifth signed article in the series, "uphold the spirit of the Silk Road and join hands to create a better future", was published in Egypt's Middle East News Agency, Egypt's "Pyramid", "Constitution", "Seven Daily", "Egyptian Today", "Luz Yousuf" magazine and other 9 mainstream media reprinted. The full text of the article is as follows:

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the "the belt and road initiative" initiative. The original intention of President Xi Jinping to put forward this initiative is to learn from the ancient Silk Road, take interconnection as the main line, and strengthen policy communication, facility connectivity, smooth trade, financing, and people-to-people connectivity with other countries, so as to inject new momentum into world economic growth. Open up new space for global development and create a new platform for international economic cooperation. Egypt is located at the intersection of the "Belt and Road" and is a historical hub connecting East and West trade and culture. China and Egypt are natural partners in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road. Here, I would like to share with my Egyptian friends some of the highlights and achievements of the two countries' joint construction of the "Belt and Road.

Policy communication continues to deepen. President Sisi has visited China many times, and President Xi Jinping has maintained close contacts with President Sisi. China and Egypt established a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2014. On October 19 this year, when President Xi Jinping met with Egyptian Prime Minister Madbouli, who attended the third "Belt and Road Initiative" International Cooperation Summit Forum, he pointed out that over the past decade, China and Egypt have carried out fruitful cooperation within the framework of jointly building "Belt and Road Initiative." China supports Egypt in taking a development path in line with its own national conditions, and is willing to deepen the docking of development strategies with Egypt. Encourage powerful Chinese enterprises to invest in Egypt, welcome more Egyptian quality products to enter the Chinese market. China is willing to work with Egypt to implement the results of the third "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum, strengthen cooperation in infrastructure, agricultural technology, renewable energy and other fields, expand cultural exchanges and cooperation, and continue to promote the development of China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership. The heads of state and high-level diplomacy have provided strong guidance for China-Egypt high-quality cooperation in building the "the belt and road initiative. The intergovernmental working mechanism between the two countries in various fields provides an effective platform for policy communication.

Facilities connected to the ground effect. The Egyptian EETC500 kV backbone network transformation and upgrading project undertaken by the State Grid of China is the largest power grid upgrading project in Egypt's history, and it is also the "aorta" of the national transmission system, which has greatly improved the problem of "insufficient blood supply" in power transmission. The second phase of the Port said Container Terminal and the second phase of the Sukhna Container Terminal undertaken by China Harbour have greatly enhanced the cargo handling capacity of Egyptian ports, made important contributions to the development of the Suez Canal Economic Corridor, and further enhanced Egypt's status as a trade hub connecting Asia and Europe. In July 2022, the "Ramadan 10th City" light rail project undertaken by the China Railway Second Hospital was opened to traffic. This is the first electrified light rail railway in Egypt. In June 2023, the Egyptian satellite assembly integration test (AIT) center constructed by China Aerospace Science and technology group completed the acceptance, making Egypt the first African country with AIT capability; the aiding Egypt II satellite will be launched by the end of this year. Huawei, ZTE and other enterprises have participated in Egypt's "Broadband Speed-up Project" and built nearly 10,000 access stations, helping Egypt to rank first in Africa in broadband network speed, so that people can enjoy surfing experience at lower charges.

Unimpeded trade has been steadily advancing. Since 2012, China has been Egypt's largest trading partner for 11 years. Egyptian orange, grapes, frozen strawberries, fresh dates, fresh pomegranate and other advantageous agricultural products have landed in the Chinese market. In September this year, the General Administration of Customs of China issued an announcement to allow Egyptian fresh mangoes that meet the plant quarantine requirements to be exported to China. At present, the relevant departments of both sides are actively promoting the export of Egyptian dried chili to China. In the next step, the two countries will continue to strengthen the smooth trade cooperation under the framework of the "Belt and Road", tap the potential of bilateral trade, and further improve the quality and scale of trade.

Financing continues to expand. Over the past decade, China has been one of the most active and fastest growing countries in (FDI) investment in Egypt, and most of it has been invested in Egypt's priority manufacturing sector. In 2022, China's net investment in Egypt will reach US $0.64 billion billion, making it Egypt's largest source of foreign investment in Asia.The China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is a demonstration project of China-Egypt cooperation to jointly build the "Belt and Road". It has attracted nearly 150 Chinese and foreign companies to settle in, and has initially formed four major industries including new building materials, petroleum equipment, high and low voltage equipment, and machinery manufacturing. The industry directly solves the employment problem of nearly 5000 people, and the industry drives employment of about 50000 people.Chinese financial institutions continue to innovate financing models for Egypt, expand financing channels, and strongly support the smooth implementation of landmark projects such as the Central Business District (CBD), the Ramadan 10th City Light Rail, and renewable energy power stations in Egypt's new administrative capital. On October 16 this year, Egypt successfully issued a 3.5 billion-yuan "Panda Bond" in China, becoming the first African country to issue this bond.

People's hearts and minds are going deeper. The exchanges and cooperation between China and Egypt in education, science, culture, health and other fields have been fruitful. On March 1, 2020, President Sessi sent a special envoy to Beijing with aid supplies, the first foreign health minister to visit China since the new crown epidemic. On April 7 of the same year, only two months after the outbreak in Egypt, the first mask production line of Sino-Egyptian cooperation was put into operation in Cairo; that same month, the two countries signed an agreement to produce China's Kexing vaccine in Egypt, making Egypt the first African country to cooperate with China in the production of the new crown vaccine. In February 2022, President Sisi attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Cairo Tower lit up a light show to express his support and wishes for the Beijing Winter Olympics. China has opened a Chinese cultural center in Egypt. The Ministry of Education of Egypt has opened Chinese elective courses in 12 ten-point public middle schools, and supported 10 universities to set up Chinese departments or Chinese majors. The Chinese government has also provided a large number of scholarships and training programs to support outstanding Egyptian talents and young students to study in China.

In the past ten years, the "Belt and Road" cooperation has moved from "freehand brushwork" to the stage of "meticulous painting", and the millennium ancient Silk Road has radiated new vitality in the new era. Looking to the future, China is willing to deepen the "Belt and Road Initiative" cooperative partnership with Egypt, uphold the Silk Road spirit of peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual learning, and mutual benefit and win-win results, so as to achieve new development of higher quality and higher level, and continuously enhance the well-being of the people of the two countries and the world.

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