Shanghai -- According to sources at the Egyptian Investment Ministry, Minister Mahmoud Mohi Eddin plans to discuss Egypt's growing trade deficit with China--estimated at US$5 billion per year--during his current visit to Beijing. The same sources say that Mohi Eddin intends to inform his Chinese interlocutors that Egyptian parliamentarians were unhappy with what they described as China's "commercial attack" on Egypt's domestic market. Mohi Eddin is also expected to urge Chinese officials to boost Chinese investment in Egypt so as to offset the bilateral trade deficit, especially in the field of tourism--given that less than 100,000 Chinese tourists visit Egypt every year. The minister, who has just wrapped up a visit to Vietnam, said that Egypt was currently importing machinery for cement and petrochemical production from China at relatively competitive prices. There have been delays in delivery, however, which the minister also plans to bring up during his visit. According to Egypt's ambassador to China, Irrigation Minister Nasr Allam will also visit China imminently to discuss bilateral cooperation in irrigation projects in Africa. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
