Interview: China's new quality productive forces bring new opportunities for foreign investors

Employees check assembled cars at a workshop of automaker FAW Hongqi in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, Feb. 19, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Nan)

"China witnessed very large growth rates in 2023, so I consider this year to be a new beginning for China to take off again," said the Egyptian expert.

CAIRO, April 6 (Xinhua) -- China's development of new quality productive forces and its continued openness to the outside world will bring new opportunities for foreign investors and companies, an Egyptian expert has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Ahmed al-Husseini, a researcher at the Faculty of African Studies of Cairo University and an expert in Chinese affairs, stressed that foreign investment matters to all countries, whether they are rich, industrial, or developing countries.

"China attracted direct foreign investment amounting to approximately 1.1 trillion yuan (about 160 billion U.S. dollars), and more than 53,000 foreign companies invested in China during 2023, the scale of which is still at a historical high," al-Husseini said.

And so with Egypt, which is striving to attract foreign investments, he said, adding that Egypt's Vision 2030 and China's new quality productive forces greatly enhance the opportunities for bilateral cooperation and contribute to attracting mutual investments in different productive sectors.

The strategic vision of Egypt 2030 can be considered a direct reflection of the concept of China's new quality productive forces, which highlights the depth and strength of Egyptian-Chinese relations and common understanding of many topics and issues, he said.

"There is a very high degree of convergence between the new Chinese concept of new quality productive forces and Egypt's 2030 vision, which relies on sustainability, technology, and innovation," the expert said.

Egypt, in its vision, has become more concerned with the localization of modern industries, high-quality technologies, and new and renewable energy, al-Husseini said, noting that Egypt has also ventured into the field of manufacturing electric cars, in cooperation with Chinese companies.

An aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 1, 2023 shows a view of Abu Qir Marine Port Container Terminal in Alexandria, Egypt. The China-constructed Abu Qir Marine Port Container Terminal in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria has started operation. (CHEC/Handout via Xinhua)

Many Egyptian companies and investors, he said, are seeking to be present in the Chinese market, especially in agricultural manufacturing. And that Chinese investments in Egypt can also work to provide production requirements for Egyptian factories that rely on technology and innovation.

He also stressed the importance of the positive impact of the concept of new quality productive forces on the "Belt and Road" Initiative.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is based on cooperation, the exchange of benefits, and joint win-win for both parties, not for one party at the expense of the other...it depends on investing in infrastructure such as roads, ports, airports, high-speed trains, electricity, water, energy, etc., all of which are significant investments to increase production income rates," al-Husseini said.

Over the past four years, he said, the world has witnessed many challenges, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic, then Russia-Ukraine crisis, and the Palestine-Israel conflict, and tensions at the Red Sea.

"Despite all of this, China witnessed very large growth rates in 2023, so I consider this year to be a new beginning for China to take off again, and with the return of an economically strong China, all economic and trade partners will be strengthened as it is the engine of global growth and global economy," the expert said.

China's GDP exceeded 126 trillion yuan (17.51 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2023 at a growth rate of 5.2 percent, ranking China among the fastest-growing major economies in the world.