Morocco as a hub for Chinese investment, the Prince MBS award for Saudi-China Cultural Cooperation, China-built power plant in Iraq
I’d planned to get this out yesterday but had a deadline for a piece that should be coming out on Monday. Either way, the China-MENA beat continues to be uncharacteristically quiet as we all focus on how decisions in Washington play out everywhere else.
Ambassador: Morocco Becoming Strategic Hub for Chinese Investment - Morocco World News. I’ve been banging the drum on China-Morocco for the past few months, and this short piece, stitched together from a Caixin interview, drops some impressive trade and investment stats. I had a coffee this week with a Chinese SOE rep based in the Gulf, and asked him about the North Africa market - does he see a lot of movement. His response was interesting to me, and a good reminder of the danger of reading too much into the news. He said the engagement with Morocco has been impressive but he sees a ceiling - the much deeper strategic relationship with the US means it’s a good economic partner for China but also makes it harder for defense industries and more strategic cooperation. His take: watch Algeria.
Recent Chinese investments in Morocco’s EV sector have been substantial. According to El Ansari, major Chinese companies including Yahua Group, Huayou Cobalt, and Gotion High-Tech announced factory projects between 2023 and 2024, representing a cumulative investment of over 33 billion yuan (approximately $4.6 billion).
The strengthening Morocco-China relationship was further crystallized by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Morocco in November 2024.
Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan welcomed President Xi at Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, where the Chinese leader participated in traditional welcome ceremonies and convened with key officials including Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch.
The visit lined up perfectly with some game-changing moves in Morocco’s EV scene. Gotion High-Tech committed $1.3 billion to construct Africa’s first EV battery “gigafactory” near
Rabat, while BTR New Material Group and Shinzoom invested $300 million and $690 million respectively in battery component manufacturing…
The bilateral relationship continues to flourish, with El Ansari noting that trade exchanges between the two nations surged by 13.9% in 2023, while Chinese direct investments in Morocco advanced by 20.2%.