Why China is banking on Suez and plans for a new Egyptian capital

Name: Stranded Ever Given partially refloated after blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal for nearly a week
Uploaded: 2021-04-10T01:00:16.000Z
Duration: 3 min 4 s
Description: Stranded Ever Given partially refloated after blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal for nearly a week

Egypt, a long-standing US partner, has moved much closer to Beijing since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi came to power in 2014

China has invested billions of dollars in projects, including an ambitious plan to move the seat of government out of Cairo to a purpose-built new site

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The Suez blockage highlighted the canal’s importance to global trade. Photo: Reuters

Jevans Nyabiage

Published: 9:00am, 10 Apr 2021Updated: 9:00am, 10 Apr 2021

The recent Suez Canal blockage highlighted the vital role Egypt plays in the global trade system and to China’s trade plans.

The blockage, which lasted for six days, held up trade valued at over US$9 billion per day, according to data from Lloyd’s List.

The canal is China’s main shipping route to its largest market, Europe, and Egypt has also become a key destination for the Belt and Road Initiative as it moves closer to Beijing.

In recent years China has given Egypt, a long-standing US partner, billions of dollars in funding for projects that include a new capital city outside Cairo, the Suez Canal industrial zone, free-trade zones and financial centres.

John Calabrese, director of the Middle East Asia Project at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said: “Beijing has sought to leverage its relationship with Egypt to advance the Belt and Road Initiative, while Cairo has looked to China as a critical partner in the revitalisation of the Egyptian economy.”

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Stranded Ever Given partially refloated after blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal for nearly a week

The planned new city 45km (28 miles) in the desert east of Cairo is designed to house more than 6.5 million people in an effort to reduce overcrowding in the current capital, which has more than 20 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area.