Interview: China’s modernization benefits Global South, says chief editor of Egypt’s top paper

by Mahmoud Fouly
CAIRO, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) — China’s modernization and focus on national rejuvenation will benefit the development of the Global South, said Maged Monir, editor-in-chief of Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper, the country’s top daily.
“What distinguishes China’s relations with the countries of the Global South, including Egypt, is that China’s experiences in development and modernization can be transferred to these countries because China is keen to share its development experiences with the countries seeking to achieve development,” Monir told Xinhua in a recent interview ahead of China’s National Day, which falls on Oct. 1 every year.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
The chief editor of Egypt’s largest state-run newspaper has visited China several times over the past 20 years – the last time being a few months ago – and witnessed the country’s growth and development firsthand.
Recalling his first visit to China in 2005, Monir said he was impressed to see a miniature model of Beijing planning what the future capital would look like. “The Chinese are planning decades into the future,” Monir said.
“What I saw with my own eyes every time I visited China was its modernization beyond imagination. In fact, the Chinese experience and the great progress that I have witnessed myself are worthy of appreciation and respect,” the editor-in-chief told Xinhua.
Monir added that China’s opening up to the outside world has made the country “a giant economic power and also an influential country in the international community.”
He stated that China’s emphasis on economic development and building strong economic ties with other nations through trade, investment, joint production, and technology transfers is the most crucial aspect of its opening up.
“One of the most important features of China’s relations with the countries of the Global South or the developing world is that China seeks cooperation in development without interfering in the internal affairs of other countries,” Monir noted.
The editor-in-chief emphasized that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to build win-win partnerships through joint development projects and economic and trade, helps Global South countries achieve their development goals.
“I see the BRI as one of the most important initiatives that will bring many changes to the economic cooperation system and trade relations among continents of the world, not just among countries,” Monir told Xinhua.
Under the BRI, Chinese firms have been carrying out mega development projects in Egypt in various fields, including construction, transportation, energy, and industry.
The 20-tower Central Business District with a landmark skyscraper built by a Chinese company in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, the Chinese energy companies working in the giant Benban Solar Park in Upper Egypt’s Aswan province, and the Chinese companies and factories set up in an industrial zone developed by China’s industrial developer TEDA in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone, are examples of BRI-oriented Egyptian-Chinese cooperation.
According to Monir, cooperation between Egypt and China under the BRI and the 10 years of Egypt-China comprehensive strategic partnership are the best examples of China’s pursuit of win-win cooperation with other countries.
The BRI is “the greatest achievement and the greatest gift presented by the People’s Republic of China to the world,” Monir said. ■