As more countries in the Middle East seek closer economic and trade ties with China, the Middle East market is no longer dominated by Western companies, an Egyptian scholar told People’s Daily.

The comments made by Ibrahim el-Ghitany, a senior researcher at the Cairo-based Regional Center for Strategic Studies, come before Chinese President Xi Jinping kicks off his state visits to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran.

Steady energy cooperation and more prevailing non-oil related trade have contributed to the shift in focus, el-Ghitany explained.

China and the Middle East can complement each other in economy and trade, said the scholar, adding that over 50 percent of China’s imported energy comes from countries in the resource-abundant Gulf region.

YASREF, a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and China’s Sinopec, is an example of such strategic partnerships in energy.

As China’s technologies and infrastructure products become more competitive in the global market, more Middle Eastern countries seek closer economic and trade ties with China.

China’s proposal to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road further facilitates such trend, and the market formally dominated by Western companies now embraces more Chinese technologies and products, according to the expert.

“China’s initiative has generated many win-win proposals by cooperating with regional nations,” el-Ghitany stressed.

El-Ghitany also noted that Egypt continues to face serious security challenges brought on by political turbulence. The country’s tourism industry was also severely hit.

In order to stimulate its economic development, the Egyptian government has taken a series of measures to attract more investment.

“The Egyptian people hope their Chinese friends can help in the process of national rejuvenation,” he added.