China’s ambassador to Egypt, Liao Liqiang, has highlighted the achievements and benefits of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in a speech celebrating the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. He said that China has offered “Chinese solutions” to the world in light of the major changes that have not been seen in a century.
Liqiang said that since Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the BRI in 2013, 152 countries and 32 international organizations have signed more than 200 cooperation documents with China. He said that the BRI has attracted nearly $1trn in investments and created more than 400,000 jobs in the participating countries.
He also noted that the Arab League has adopted a resolution supporting the BRI and expressing its desire to enhance cooperation with China. He said that China appreciates this gesture and hopes to build a community with a shared future for humanity with the Arab countries.
Liqiang congratulated Egypt on joining the BRICS group of emerging economies in August and expressed his confidence that Egypt and other new members will inject new vitality into the BRICS cooperation mechanism.
He said that China and Egypt have worked jointly to align the BRI with Egypt’s Vision 2030 and have achieved fruitful results. He said that China has remained Egypt’s largest trading partner for 11 years in a row and that Chinese companies have built landmark projects in Egypt, such as the tallest building in Africa, the first light rail transit in Africa, and the largest vaccine storage center in Africa.
He added that China and Egypt have signed a memorandum of understanding on exporting Egyptian mangoes to China, which will contribute to further enhancing trade exchange between the two countries. He also said that Chinese tourists have returned to Egypt at an accelerated pace and that there are currently 18 direct flights between China and Egypt weekly.
He concluded by saying that China has been implementing new development concepts and building a new development equation, with continuous innovation achievements such as launching the first commercial flight by a large, home-made Chinese aircraft, floating the first huge, home-made Chinese cruise ship, and installing the world’s first offshore wind turbine with a capacity of 16 MW. He said that China’s economy has grown by 5.5% year on year in the first half of this year, much faster than the major advanced economies in the world.
