Egypt, China Sign Economic Agreements On Morsi’s First Visit To Beijing

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao signed a number of economic and trade agreements following the bilateral discussions held in Beijing on Tuesday.

The agreements both parties signed include a non-refundable 450 million Yuan grant ($1=6.4 Yuan) from China for joint projects in the fields of infrastructure, electricity and environment, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Tuesday.

They also include a grant of 300 police vehicles for Egypt in addition to a memorandum of understanding for solid waste management and cooperation in the field of environmental protection.

Egypt’s tourism minister Hisham Zazou and his Chinese counterpart signed an agreement in the tourism sector as well, the agency added.

An agreement on agricultural research was also signed.

A $200 million soft loan will be given to Egypt from China Development Bank as a cooperation agreement to support small and medium projects. Head of the National Bank of Egypt Tarek Amer and his counterpart from China Development Bank signed the agreement.

Morsi’s visit to China will last for three days. He is accompanied by a large delegation of ministers and businessmen.

Aswat Masriya