“中国将在八年内成为埃及最大贸易伙伴”

China becoming Egypt’s biggest trading partner

China will surpass the US as Egypt’s biggest individual trading partner within eight years, and Beijing is rapidly also becoming a key source of investment and technology, according to Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Egypt’s minister of trade and industry.

China was beginning to replace some US and Europe suppliers not just in consumer products but also capital goods ranging up to turn-key industrial projects, said Mr Rachid.


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“We are getting capital goods at a lower cost and with the same or better technology,” he said, noting that the increase in trade with China would have a “large impact” on Egypt’s economic policies.

Mr Rachid’s comments highlight China’s growing importance as an economic partner to countries in the Middle East and Africa, amid a drive by Beijing to secure access to natural resources and to turn its state-owned companies into global players.

The minister is in Beijing to promote Egypt to China’s government and business leaders as a manufacturing hub for the Middle East and southern Europe, and is expected to preside over the sealing of $2bn (�1.6bn, ￡1bn) in deals between Egyptian and Chinese companies during his trip.

Mr Rachid, who in February criticised the US for freezing trade talks following widespread fraud and violence during Egypt’s parliamentary elections, noted that Beijing viewed the region in terms of economic opportunity rather than from a “geopolitical” perspective.

“It’s not an [economic] relationship that is linked to politics,” he said. “That makes it easier to do business with China.”

Egypt’s total trade with China was worth about $2bn in 2005, compared with just over $5bn in trade with the US.

However, Mr Rachid said it was very clear that within seven or eight years China would be Egypt’s biggest individual trading partner, topped only by combined trade with European nations.

Mr Rachid said he was not concerned that the value of Egypt’s imports from China was 10 times that of exports last year, since Chinese success was largely coming at the expense of traditional suppliers from the US and Europe.

However, the minister, a reformist former Unilever executive, noted that China’s growing manufacturing clout seriously challenged Egypt’s efforts to develop its own industrial comparative advantage.

Availability of energy, land, cheap labour and finance was “not enough any more”, and Egypt had to make greater use of its location and preferential trade agreements with European and other regional markets, he said.

China and Egypt this week agreed to set up a Chinese industrial zone in Egypt for joint investment in textiles, footwear and pharmaceuticals, as well as a international exhibitions complex outside Cairo with planned investment of $500m
“中国将在八年内成为埃及最大贸易伙伴”

埃及外贸与工业部长拉希德?穆罕默德?拉希德(Rachid Mohamed Rachid)表示，未来8年内，中国将超过美国，成为埃及最大的贸易伙伴国，同时，中国也正迅速成为一个投资和技术的关键来源。

拉希德昨日表示，不仅是消费品，甚至在资本品乃至交钥匙工业项目方面，中国都正开始取代一些欧美供应商。

他表示：“我们获取资本品的成本越来越低，而这些资本品使用的是相同乃至更好的技术。”拉希德指出，埃中贸易的增长将对埃及经济政策产生“巨大影响”。


拉希德的评论突显出，随着中国政府努力争夺自然资源，并将其国有企业转变为全球参与者，中国作为中东和非洲国家经济伙伴的重要性正在不断上升。

拉希德目前正在北京访问，向中国政府和商业领袖推介埃及作为中东和南欧制造业枢纽的角色。在他访问期间，预计他将主持签署埃中企业间价值20亿美元的交易协议。

拉希德指出，中国政府是从经济机遇角度，而非“地缘政治”角度，看待埃及所处地区的。今年2月，拉希德批评美国以埃及议会选举出现大范围舞弊和暴力事件为由，冻结了与埃及的贸易谈判。

埃及与中国2005年的贸易总额约为20亿美元，埃美贸易额略高于50亿美元。

然而，拉希德表示，非常明显，在7至8年内，中国将成为埃及最大的贸易伙伴国，其贸易额将仅次于埃及与整个欧洲的贸易总额。

中国和埃及本周达成协议，在埃及建立一个中国工业园区，联合投资纺织品、鞋类和医药项目，同时计划投资5亿美元，在开罗城外兴建一个国际会展中心。

中国与埃及加深经贸联系

Egypt Sees China Replacing U.S. As Top Trade Partner by 2012

BEIJING -- Egypt expects China to supplant the U.S. as its top trading partner within five to six years, a shift that reflects China's growing influence in Africa and the Middle East.

"Traditionally, Egypt was always looking west," to the U.S. and Europe, said Egypt's minister of trade and industry, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, in an interview.

But as Egyptians buy increasing quantities of Chinese goods, and China's hunger for energy and raw materials draws it closer to the Middle East and Africa, Egypt is putting greater focus on its Asian relationships.

Mr. Rachid is in Beijing this week on his first official visit, just weeks before a major summit will bring many of Africa's top leaders here. He said Egypt is working to secure as much as $2 billion in Chinese investment as it seeks to take advantage of China's expanding interests in the resource-rich region.

As part of China's drive in the Middle East and Africa, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Egypt in June. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is scheduled to come to Beijing in November. An economic and trade relationship that is expanding quickly -- albeit from a small base -- is expected to top his agenda.

Mr. Rachid said Egypt's total trade with China is likely to reach $5 billion by 2010, from just more than $1 billion in 2005. "It's nothing to do with politics. It's only because China is able to offer cheaper and better products than everybody else," he said.

Mr. Rachid, however, dismissed the possibility that stronger trade ties with China would affect the U.S.'s influence in the region. The U.S. provides Egypt, a critical Mideast ally, with billions of dollars in military and other aid. "The U.S. will, of course, continue to be a very important strategic and economic partner with Egypt," he said. "It's not either-or."

Nonetheless, skeptics in the U.S. worry that China's growing stake in the region could lead Beijing into conflict with Washington's agenda. Already, China has opposed U.S. plans to bring United Nations' peacekeepers to war-torn Sudan, one of the top sources of China's oil, and Beijing is resisting calls for stronger sanctions against Iran, another major supplier of energy.

China now dominates the trade relationship with Egypt, having sold $915 million in goods to Egypt in 2005. Mr. Rachid says the gap is likely to persist. Thus, he is trying to bring some balance to the broader economic relationship by bringing in Chinese investment, promoting Egypt's proximity to markets in southern Europe and Africa and its network of free-trade agreements.

Deals agreed upon during Mr. Rachid's trip include a $500 million convention center to be built by a Chinese construction company outside Cairo, and the building of a $120 million cement factory that will use Chinese technology. Another plan under discussion with Chinese conglomerate Citic Group is the building of a $100 million aluminum plant in Egypt.

Mr. Rachid said Egypt also has created a dedicated industrial park, called the Suez Economic Zone, that will be run by a Chinese company and will specialize in attracting other Chinese corporations to invest.
中国与埃及加深经贸联系



埃及预计中国将在5至6年内取代美国成为其最大的贸易伙伴，这种变化反映出中国在非洲和中东地区日益增大的影响力。

埃及工业和贸易部长穆罕默德?拉希德(Rachid Mohamed Rachid)在接受采访时表示，过去埃及一直关注西方，重点是美国和欧洲。

但随着中国商品在埃及销量的增加，以及中国对能源和原材料的需求拉近了它同中东和非洲的距离，埃及也越来越重视发展与亚洲的关系。

拉希德目前正在对北京进行他上任以来的首次正式访问，几周后，中国还要举办中非合作论坛北京峰会，届时将有许多非洲领导人参加。拉希德说，随着中国对资源富集地区的兴趣越来越浓厚，埃及正在争取获得约20亿美元的中国投资。

作为中国加深同中东和非洲联系的一部分，中国总理温家宝在今年6月份访问了埃及。埃及总统穆巴拉克(Hosni Mubarak)定于11月份访问北京。预计经贸关系将是他访华的重要议程。尽管双方经贸往来的起点很低，但发展却非常迅速。

拉希德表示，埃及同中国的贸易额有望从2005年的10多亿美元增加到2010年的50亿美元。他说，这与政治没有任何关系，只是因为中国能够提供更为优质廉价的产品。

不过，拉希德并不认为同中国加强贸易往来将改变美国在这一地区的影响力。美国向埃及提供了数十亿美元的军事和其他援助。拉希德说，美国仍将是埃及非常重要的战略和经济伙伴。这不存在非此即彼的问题。

尽管如此，美国国内仍有人担心中国在这一地区影响力的增大将导致与美国的利益产生冲突。中国以前曾反对美国建议联合国在苏丹部署维和部队的计划，并一直抵制加大对伊朗制裁力度的呼吁。苏丹和伊朗都是中国重要的石油供应国。

目前中国在同埃及的贸易联系中占据主导地位，2005年共向埃及出口了9.15亿美元的商品。拉希德说，这种情况还会持续下去。因此，他希望通过吸引中国投资，促进埃及进入南欧和非洲及其自由贸易区来扩大经济关系，使经贸往来更加平衡。

拉希德访华期间签署的协议包括一家中国建筑公司投资5亿美元在开罗附近承建的会展中心，还有投资1.20亿美元采用中国技术的水泥厂。目前仍在商谈中的一个计划是中信集团公司(Citic Group Inc., 简称：中信公司)投资1亿美元在埃及建设铝厂。

拉希德说，埃及还专门建立了一个叫做苏伊士经济区(Suez Economic Zone)的工业园，将由中国企业管理，主要用于吸引其它中国公司前来投资。

Andrew Batson / Shai Oster