CRI听力:Egyptians Voice High Hope for Mutual Benefits from "Belt and Road Initiative"

Since last August when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the New Suez Canal project, the vital waterway has accommodated larger ships, and more of them.

Cairo believes that these projects are a natural fit to China's "Belt and Road" initiative which could revive the ancient route.

Mahmoud Allam is a government advisor of Egypt's Transportation Ministry.

"The Road and Belt starts in China's ports, actually this is the other end of it. Connecting both, the opportunities here will open for the world and particularly for Chinese companies to come and send their bases here to manufacture, assemble and use this strategic location to move from it to the major markets in Europe, Africa and the Middle East."

Earlier, in his dedication to a special issue of "China Today" magazine's Arabic edition, Chinese President Xi Jinping voiced similar hopes that the two countries can deepen cooperation in various fields under the Belt and Road Initiative, so the two peoples can share the benefits of this development.

His Egyptian counterpart, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, also offered a dedication to the magazine, in which he said that Cairo will actively respond to the call for reviving the silk road and welcomes more Chinese investment in his efforts to build a "new Egypt."

Ahmed El-Sayed El-Naggar, is the chairman of the board of the Al-Ahram newspaper.

He says the Chinese development strategy accords with Egypt's own plans.

"There are many fields in which China and Egypt can develop together, including politics, the economy, science and military strategy. The two countries have a consensus and a mutual understanding. We Egyptians consider China to be a world power. We can also learn about how Egypt looks to Chinese's eyes from President Xi's article. The mutual political trust between China and Egypt is also the base to further develop the China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership and helpful towards realizing the dream of revitalizing the two nations."

Ibrahim El Ghitany with Egypt's Regional Center for Strategic Studies says that bilateral economic and trade exchanges will definitely achieve further progress going forward.

"The progress I think depends on two basics of cooperation - first, China takes non-interference in local issues in Egypt. Second, the European and US are not ready to invest in Egypt for the pressure in capital output. So I think China is the most ready partner to cooperate in Egypt now. I think China is not the only partner, but it is the most ready."

China and Egypt are now set to expand their joint industrial zone, focusing more on export-oriented manufacturing and modern warehouses and logistics.

The China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is one of China's premier overseas investment zones.

It has already helped to create more than 2,000 jobs for local workers and has generated nearly 35 million U.S. dollars in taxes for Egypt since 2009.

The expansion program, with a total investment of 230 million U.S. dollars, is expected to be completed in 10 years.

For CRI, this is Niu Honglin.