Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has called on Chinese companies to expand their investments in Egypt, particularly in electric vehicles (EVs), water desalination, and renewable energy components, as the government seeks to accelerate industrial localisation and strengthen cooperation with Beijing. Madbouly held talks on Saturday with Cai Qi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on the sidelines of his participation—on behalf of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi—in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus Summit in Tianjin. The Prime Minister praised the significant role played by Chinese firms in Egypt's development projects in recent years, particularly in construction, transport, and industry. He invited Chinese companies to establish EV factories in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, noting China's position as the world's largest EV producer. He also emphasised opportunities in water desalination and the production of solar and wind energy components. For his part, Cai Qi reaffirmed China's support for developing Egypt's EV industry, welcomed cooperation in water desalination, and encouraged Chinese firms specialising in the sector to partner with Egypt. CNCEC seeks to expand in Egypt On the sidelines of the summit, Madbouly also met with Mo Dingge, Chairperson of China National Chemical Engineering (CNCEC), a leading petrochemicals company. Dingge outlined CNCEC's global operations across the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, highlighting its expertise in producing petrochemical products such as soda ash. He expressed the company's interest in expanding its investments in Egypt, particularly in fertilizers, citing Egypt's strategic location, government incentives, and trade agreements that provide access to regional markets. He added that he plans to visit Egypt in October to meet Madbouly and explore additional investment opportunities. The Prime Minister welcomed CNCEC's interest, stressing Egypt's readiness to provide incentives and streamline project implementation. He also noted President El-Sisi's close follow-up of the company's projects, particularly its soda ash plant, which is expected to move forward swiftly. Madbouly highlighted that Egypt could serve as a regional gateway for CNCEC's expansion into the Middle East and Africa. TBEA discusses renewable energy cooperation Madbouly further met with Xin Zhang, Chairperson of TBEA, a company specialising in power engineering and electrical equipment manufacturing. He underlined Egypt's priority to expand renewable energy projects and localise the production of solar and wind energy components, in line with its target of raising the share of renewables to 42% of the energy mix by 2030. The Prime Minister disclosed that the government is ready to purchase no less than 2,000 megawatts of electricity from TBEA under a comprehensive proposal covering generation, transmission, and storage. He assured full government support and incentives for the project. TBEA's Chairperson highlighted the company's $4bn in assets and operations across 19 countries, including investments exceeding $300m in Egypt. He noted opportunities for cooperation in solar power, battery storage, and maintenance, and invited Madbouly to visit TBEA's headquarters in Tianjin. In response, Madbouly proposed that TBEA establish a factory in the TEDA zone of the Suez Canal Economic Zone to benefit from investment incentives and support Egypt's renewable energy ambitions.
