The Heat: China and Egypt deepen bilateral ties

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China and Egypt are deepening their economic partnership. Beijing is now Egypt's biggest trading partner, with trade reaching 11 billion US dollars last year. Direct Chinese investments reportedly increased to 260 million US dollars, as well. This expanding cooperation fits into China's ever-expanding Belt and Road Initiative.

Since Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took office in 2014, Beijing has shown great interest in strengthening its economic ties with Cairo. In fact, this relationship started long before the new president came to power.

Liu Kang, a professor of Chinese Studies at Duke University, said that China and Egypt have been building this mutually beneficial relationship since the 1950s.

Egypt is widely regarded as a country born with a geographic advantage, and it is now trying to maximize that natural leverage.

"Egypt enjoyed a great commercial geography," said Afshin Molavi, editor of The New Silk Road Monitor and senior fellow with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. "It is straddling the Middle East and Europe, and is the gateway to Africa."

According to Afshin, the China-Egypt tie is essentially a reciprocal cooperation, with each side benefiting from the other. For China, a successful connection with Egypt is helpful in easing the concerns of the Belt and Road Initiative. For Egypt, a constructive plan to help build up its infrastructure facilities is a priority beyond any question.

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"Any sympathetic observers of Cairo will admit that it's congested, polluted, overcrowded," said Afshin. "It certainly needs some kind of infrastructure upgrades."

Cairo also needs more jobs to tackle Egypt's domestic economic problems, and more importantly, prevent the expansion of terrorism among the younger generations. According to a national consensus, Egypt has a very young population structure, with 60 percent of its population under the age of 35.

Mirette Mabrouk, senior fellow with the Middle East Institute, said that in the next 10 years, Egypt is expecting a labor force increase of 18 million.

"These people are going to need jobs," she said. "With Chinese help and investments, more job opportunities are appearing."

However, the cooperation is not without its problems. Samy El Kamhawi, deputy editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram, the most widely-circulated Egyptian daily newspaper, expressed his concern of an unbalanced position of two countries in the project.

"There's a huge gap in the trade balance," said Samy. "The Egypt share is less than one billion, so it's necessary to overcome that issue."

China is opening up its door wider to Egyptian goods. Egyptian exports to China jumped 60 percent last year with agreements finalized to increase agricultural exports. Beijing has also embraced Egypt's vision 2030 strategy for sustainable development.

The cooperation between China and Egypt is different from Egypt's ties with western countries, whose aids and projects often came with political, environmental or other strings.

According to Nadia Helmy, a professor of political science at Cairo University, China is treating Egypt as an equal business partner and respecting its independence of domestic and international affairs.

"This is the most comfortable form of relations of Cairo," said Nadia, "And this is what Cairo needs."

As China and Egypt tightened up, the US started to worry about its position and influence in the country. The Trump administration recently decided to release 195 million US dollars in military aid to Egypt. Some experts saw a new power wrestling between China and the US.

Chinese tourists visit the Karnak Temple Complex, July 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

However, Afshin explained the present situation from a Cairo perspective. Just like any other developing countries, Egypt benefited from diversifying its geopolitical partners. As China is among the greatest plays in the world, a political portfolio without China is unrealistic.

"It goes too far to say that Egypt is now on the side of China's camp at the expense of the US interest," said Afshin. "If you are a geopolitically diverse country, there is no doubt that China will be at the table."

On the other hand, China has no intention of seeking confrontation with the US in the region. According to Khaled Dawoud, editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram Weekly, China projected its force in the Red Sea with patrolling vessels, not because it wanted a military influence in the region, but for the sake of protecting its large economic investments.

Looking forward, the bilateral collaboration is also expected to play a role in increasing China's soft power impact in the region. The practice of non-interference principles in deepening economic ties with other nations will help build a "constructive and frank" image of China.

The Heat with Anand Naidoo is a 30-minute political talk show on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 7:00 a.m. BJT and 7:00 p.m. Eastern in the United States.