
Egypt Profile of Chinese Development Finance, 2000-2023
Date Published
May 28, 2026
Authors
JulieAnn Sickell, Brooke Escobar, and Oshin Pandey
Publisher
Citation
Sickell, J. and Escobar, B. (2026). Egypt: Chinese Development Finance, 2000-2023. Williamsburg, VA: AidData at William & Mary.
Abstract
This country profile provides a detailed overview of the scale, scope, and composition of Chinese state-directed financing in Egypt from 2000 to 2023. It includes granular information on key trends in China’s loan and grant-financed commitments, its lending portfolio, ESG risks in its infrastructure projects, and contractual safeguards adoption and implementation. From 2000 to 2023, China provided 66 grant-related official commitments and directed $16.4 billion via 66 loans issued in Egypt. Cairo has consistently used currency swap drawdowns to maintain the country’s foreign exchange reserves during times of financial distress. At time of writing, Egypt ranks as the seventh-largest recipient of Chinese emergency rescue lending, drawing down up to $4.1 billion a year under its swap line with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).
The insights in this profile are derived from China's Global Loans and Grants Dataset, Version 1.0 and the sources referenced therein.
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