Morocco is looking to make the most of the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the country, as part of a broader plan to diversify its economic and trade partnerships, away from the European Union, which accounts for 60% of Morocco’s trade.
On Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Morocco for a short, indefinite visit.
One of the most prominent economic projects in which the Kingdom seeks a partnership with China is the inauguration of the Moroccan-Nigerian gas pipeline, and the initiative to enhance the access of coastal countries to the Atlantic Ocean.
Also, Rabat is betting on Beijing to make projects successful, such as electric cars, railway projects, and other projects within the framework of Morocco’s preparations to organize the World Cup in 2030, along with Spain and France.
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita believes that the strategic partnership between the two countries has yielded tangible results, with the volume of Chinese investment in Morocco doubling five times from 2016 to 2023, while the volume of trade exchange has doubled twice in the same period.
Visit of the Chinese President
The Moroccan News Agency said that Crown Prince Hassan received at Casablanca Airport (west), the Chinese President, who is making a “short” visit to the Kingdom.
The agency explained that Prince Hassan’s reception of the Chinese president came on instructions from the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI.
The agency did not address further details regarding the duration of the visit or its agenda, but stated that it reflects “the depth of the relations of friendship, cooperation and solidarity that bind the two peoples.”
Major projects
Over the past years, Morocco has launched “huge” projects, which makes it search for international partners to fully implement them on the ground.
In May 2024, Bourita reviewed with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, in a meeting between them in Beijing, “the recent initiatives announced by King Mohammed VI, especially those aimed at enhancing stability, security, and economic prosperity for the African countries overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and the initiative to enhance the access of the Sahel countries to the ocean.” “Atlantic”.
On December 23, 2023, the ministers of the African Sahel countries agreed in the city of Marrakesh to establish a national working group in each country, to prepare and propose ways to activate an international initiative by King Mohammed VI, for the Sahel countries to benefit from the Atlantic Ocean.
Bourita also reviewed “the strategic project for the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline, which aspires to enhance regional integration and stimulate economic development along the African Atlantic coast and beyond.”
The agreement dates back to the inauguration of the gas pipeline project linking Morocco and Nigeria, during the state visit conducted by King Mohammed VI to Nigeria, in December 2016.
The pipeline will pass through Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone, in addition to Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania.
The gas pipeline will extend over a length of approximately 5,660 kilometers, and will be constructed in several stages to respond to the growing need of the countries from which it will cross to Europe.
Visits and agreements
Recently, there were visits between officials of the two countries, during which agreements were signed in various sectors.
In this context, Moroccan Minister of Tourism Fatima Zahra Ammor discussed with Rao Quan, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of China, last June, ways to enhance tourism cooperation between the two countries.
In March 2024, the Moroccan Minister of Industry, Riad Mazour, also received the Chinese Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao, who visited Morocco between February 29 and March 2, 2024.
Mazwar said at the time that trade exchanges between the two countries increased by more than 50%, making China the third largest trading partner of the Kingdom and its first partner in Asia, with a total exchange volume of 7.6 billion dollars in 2022.
He considered that Chinese investments in Morocco amounted to more than $56 million in 2022, mainly related to industry, transportation, real estate, energy, and minerals, with the industry holding a 52% share.
According to the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 80 joint projects with China or Chinese companies are active in the country and are under implementation throughout the Kingdom.
Last September, Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch participated in a high-level meeting on “Supporting industrialization in Africa, modernizing agriculture, and green development on the path to modernization.”
The volume of trade between China and Africa amounted to about $177 billion in the first half of this year, according to Chinese media.
Development of relationships
Last May, the Moroccan Foreign Minister said that the strategic partnership between the two countries had yielded tangible results, as the volume of Chinese investment in Morocco multiplied five times from 2016 to 2023, while the volume of trade exchange doubled twice in the same period, making China the Kingdom’s first Asian partner.
Also, Morocco is the first country in Africa to join the Belt and Road Initiative in January 2022.
The “Belt and Road” is a Chinese initiative, also known as the “Silk Road” for the twenty-first century, and aims to pump huge investments into developing the infrastructure of global economic corridors, to connect more than 70 countries.
The initiative was launched by the Chinese President in 2013, and it is a project that aims to create a land belt of railways and roads across Central Asia and Russia, and a sea route that allows China to reach Africa and Europe via the China Sea and the Indian Ocean, at a total cost of one trillion dollars.
