The China Development Bank (CDB) injected ¥7 billion (¥ - Chinese Yuan) - worth around $956.61 million - into the Central Bank of Egypt on Monday, according to a release by the Beijing-based bank on Tuesday morning.

The funds are part of a loan agreement signed during the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit held in Beijing earlier this month, according to the bank’s statement.

The new financing is set to support projects agreed upon at the BRI summit as well as the nine programs outlined in 2021’s Africa-China Cooperation.

According to CDB, the loan will promote further in-depth integration of the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Egypt Vision 2030, as well as stimulate fresh financial movement to boost economic, trade, and financial cooperation between China and Egypt.

As of Q3 of 2023, CDB has issued loans to Egypt with a total value of more than $6.48 billion, including a line of credit worth $1 billion, and loans for small and medium-sized companies through the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr, the statement clarified, as well as financing the electricity transmission network in Egypt with a capacity of 500 kilowatts.

As a new member of BRICS and a vital country in Africa for China’s BRI, the CDB emphasized the importance of enhancing financial cooperation with Egypt, fueling positive results in production capacity cooperation, cross-border RMB cooperation, and more between the two countries.

In recent months, Egypt has ramped up efforts to meet and negotiate with foreign countries and entities to bring fresh hard currency into the country, with China as a significant player.

During the Belt and Road Initiative summit earlier this month, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, discussing expanding investments in the TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (SETC-Zone) across various industrial fields such as the electric car industry and green hydrogen production.

Jinping emphasized China’s eagerness to cooperate with Egypt in multiple fields including infrastructure, energy, aviation, tourism, renewable energy, healthcare, and more.