According to Tameem El-Dawy, Deputy Executive Director at the Egyptian Food Export Council, Egypt’s food industry exports to China have gone up by 21% to about $36 million in 2020. El-Dawy’s stated that the sector’s exports to the Chinese market have recorded a growth of 836% between 2014 and 2020. He also noted that 10 food products represent about 98% of the total Egyptian food exports to the Chinese market, with a value of $35.9 million in 2020. One of these exports are made up by frozen strawberries, for which Egypt is currently the world’s leading exporter.
“There are food products in Chinese imports items that have an alternative in Egyptian exports products, with a value of $20 billion in 2019,” El-Dawy said, “China is the second largest importer in the world in all commodity sectors, with a value of $2trn, representing 10.8% of the world’s total imports in 2019, with its total imports from the food industry reaching $90 billion.”
Zhou Zhencheng, Minister Counsellor of the Economic and Commercial Office at China’s Embassy in Cairo, said that fruit makes up the lion’s share of Egypt’s food export to China. Zencheng noted that in 2020, China imported $110 million of Egyptian fruit, out of which $96 million was spent on fresh oranges, $13 million on frozen strawberries, and approximately $0.5 million on fresh grapes. He pointed out that Egypt’s fruit exports to China in 2020 boasted an increase of 423.8% compared to 2015.