Egypt's Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Sherif El Sherbiny has met with Chinese Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong in Beijing to expand bilateral cooperation in housing and infrastructure. During the meeting, the two sides agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) covering joint efforts in utilities, construction, industrial investment, and the operation of business and financial centres. Minister El Sherbiny outlined three main cooperation areas: attracting Chinese investment to cities like New Alamein, particularly in industry and tourism; forming Egyptian-Chinese company partnerships for projects in Africa; and collaborating on affordable housing, where Egypt is currently building 500,000 new units. He also inspected projects by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in several cities and met with its chairman to follow up on developments in the New Administrative Capital and New Alamein. For his part, Ni Hong described Egypt as a key Arab, African, and Islamic partner. He highlighted growing ties under the leadership of Presidents Xi Jinping and Abdel Fattah El Sisi and welcomed greater collaboration between both ministries as a model for broader government cooperation. Moreover, Ni Hong supported the proposed framework, pointing to Egypt's infrastructure progress and Chinese companies' capabilities in housing and urban services. He backed a model partnership between CSCEC and Arab Contractors and expressed interest in collaborating on social housing through prefabrication and cost-efficient solutions. Both sides agreed to formalise their cooperation through a memorandum covering housing, urban development, building materials, and business centre operations. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English Subediting: M. S. Salama
