In Egypt, the Chinese President Xi Jingping signs $15 billion contracts

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday signed for multi-billion dollar contracts with Egypt as part of a tour in the Middle East to strengthen the economic presence of his country in this region.
Arrived the previous evening from Saudi Arabia, Xi held talks Thursday in Cairo with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.
Several bilateral agreements were signed in presence of the two heads of state during a ceremony broadcast live by state television.
“Both sides have undertaken to carry out 15 projects (…), mainly in sectors such as electricity, transportation and infrastructure, for a total investment of 15 billion dollars (13.8 billion EUR)”, have the two presidents said in a joint statement.
“These projects will give new impetus to economic development in Egypt,” they said.
According to Sissi, these agreements are the “best evidence of the determination of both countries to improve their level of cooperation.”
According to the official MENA news agency, nearly 1,200 Chinese companies currently operating in the most populous Arab country.
In Cairo, Xi was also to speak before the Arab League, the pan-Arab organization based in the Egyptian capital, and visit the new Egyptian Parliament, to the cause of President Sissi.
He was then expected to Luxor (south) to visit the famous temple and attend a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of Sino-Egyptian bilateral relations.
This move is seen as a call to Chinese tourists walk in a gloomy context for the Egyptian tourism, a key sector, but at half mast for several years because of political instability and insecurity.
The regional tour Xi, his first as president, will end on Friday and Saturday in Iran where the recent lifting of international sanctions as part of a historic nuclear deal, of which China is a party, opens perspectives Economic promising to foreign companies.