Understanding Chinese Industrial Zone Practices from an Egyptian Perspective

This paper examines China's overseas industrial zone in Egypt from a local perspective, assessing whether Belt and Road (BRI)-linked zones have effectively responded to local needs and development objectives. China’s industrial parks under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have facilitated Chinese investment abroad while aiming to support host countries' industrialisation, but their effectiveness varies. The Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (SETCZone) in Egypt, a key BRI project, has successfully attracted Chinese firms and investment but struggles to integrate into Egypt’s broader industrial landscape. The paper finds that while its planning aligns with Egypt’s industrial base, Chinese dominance in governance limits local policymaking, industrial upgrading, and backward linkages to domestic firms. The zone operates as an extension of Chinese production networks rather than fostering Egyptian industrial capacity, highlighting the challenges posed by power imbalances and limited policy space for host countries. The author argues that without stronger domestic leadership and policies to leverage these investments for national development, the SETCZone risks reinforcing economic dependencies rather than driving structural transformation.