As Egypt's "Vision 2030" and the "the Belt and Road" initiative are deeply linked, Egypt China agricultural cooperation is increasingly close, providing important support for Egypt's agricultural development
China is the world's largest grain producing country and the third largest grain exporting country, and its agricultural development experience is worthy of reference for other developing countries. In recent years, with the deep connection between Egypt's "Vision 2030" and the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" initiative, Egypt China agricultural cooperation has become increasingly close, providing an important boost to Egypt's agricultural development.
The Nile gave birth to ancient Egyptian civilization, which was one of the earliest human civilizations to carry out agricultural production activities. Since entering modern civilization, Egypt's agriculture has made significant progress. The Egyptian government attaches great importance to agricultural production. In 2015, the Egyptian government proposed a land reclamation plan called "Million Fedan" (1 Fedan is approximately 4200 square meters), aimed at expanding farmland area. Egypt has also launched the "Future of Egypt" agricultural production project, committed to achieving food security and strategic commodity self-sufficiency. Egyptian agricultural experts are increasingly valuing China's agricultural development experience. China's experience in implementing the national food security strategy, promoting modern agricultural technology, accelerating the Digital transformation of agriculture, improving the farmers' education and training system, and many other experiences are of great significance for reference, which will help developing countries break through many bottlenecks in their agricultural development.
In recent years, Egypt and China have conducted extensive and effective cooperation in promoting agricultural technology and developing smart agriculture. Ain Shams University in Egypt and Ningxia University in China have collaborated to establish an intelligent water-saving irrigation laboratory. Two wind and solar intelligent water-saving irrigation experimental bases with a total area of 320 acres have been jointly built on the Egyptian National Research Center Farm and the Egyptian Agricultural Research Center Desert Farm. The irrigation system constructed by this project saves more than 20% water compared to local technology, which helps Egypt develop water-saving agriculture and forestry and improve its comprehensive production capacity. The modern agricultural greenhouse project in Egypt, built by Chinese enterprises, has transformed the desert into an oasis with fragrant fruits and melons, cultivating various agricultural products and improving the productivity of greenhouse cultivation in Egypt. In 2021, the National Remote Sensing Space Science Administration of Egypt and the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Agricultural Zoning of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences signed a memorandum of cooperation on the joint laboratory for green development in agriculture between Egypt and China, promoting cooperation in the field of remote sensing agriculture between the two sides.
With China's continuous expansion of opening up to the outside world, the trade in agricultural products between Egypt and China has developed rapidly. China is one of the top ten destination countries for fresh orange exports from Egypt. Egypt's advantageous agricultural products such as grapes, frozen strawberries, and dates have also entered the Chinese market and are welcomed by Chinese consumers. In August 2022, the General Administration of Customs of China issued a notice allowing fresh Egyptian pomegranate that meets quarantine requirements to be imported into China. After completing the relevant procedures, Egyptian mangoes are also expected to achieve export to China during this year's harvest season. In recent years, Egyptian enterprises have actively participated in China International Import Expo and other events, effectively expanding the channels for Egyptian products to enter the Chinese market. The improvement of logistics transportation level is crucial for the development of agricultural product trade. With the promotion of cooperation projects such as the development of the Suez Canal Corridor between Egypt and China, the trade of agricultural products between Egypt and China is bound to usher in new opportunities.
At present, the comprehensive strategic partnership between Egypt and China is constantly developing, and the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" has added impetus to the strengthening of cooperation in infrastructure, investment, trade, people to people and cultural exchanges and other fields between the two countries. We look forward to more and closer cooperation between the two countries in areas such as smart agriculture, desertification prevention and control, and salt alkali tolerant crop cultivation, in order to promote the common development of agriculture between the two countries. We also look forward to continuing to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields and bring greater benefits to the people of Egypt and China.
