King Mohammed VI, Pres. Xi Jinping Sign Joint Statement on Strategic Partnership

PERSISMA, Beijing – King Mohammed VI and President of the People’s Republic of China, H.E. Xi Jinping signed, on Wednesday at the Great Hall of the people in Beijing, a joint statement on the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries.

The two leaders chaired the signing ceremony of several cooperation documents related to the legal, economic, financial, industrial, cultural, tourist, energy, infrastructure and consular sectors.

The first document is a memorandum on economic and industrial partnership to reinforce cooperation between the two countries in promising sectors likely to create jobs and value added, mainly car industry, textile/clothing, electrical goods, aeronautics and logistics as well as other sectors of shared interest.

Economic and Industrial Cooperation

Meant to help Chinese enterprises gain a foothold in Morocco and encourage cooperation between Chinese and Moroccan businesses, this agreement was inked by industry minister Moulay Hafid Elalamy and his Chinese peer Gao Hucheng.

The second document is a memorandum of understanding on the creation of a zone for economic and industrial cooperation, inked by Moulay Hafid Elalamy and Gao Hucheng.

The third is an extradition agreement under which the two parties commit, reciprocally, to handing individuals on their territories while being sued or sentenced by the judiciary authorities of the other party. The agreement, inked by justice minister Mustapha Ramid and Chinese vice foreign minister Zhang Yesui, also provides for the non-extradition of the parties’ respective nationals.

The fourth is a judicial cooperation agreement, in the criminal area, signed by Ramid and Yesui.

The fifth, which is an economic and technical cooperation agreement (100 million yuans), was signed by economy minister Mohamed Boussaid and Chinese trade minister Gao Hucheng.

Morocco’s Railway

The sixth is a memorandum of understanding on exemption and procedure simplification for some visa categories. It was signed by Foreign minister Salaheddine Mezouar and Zhang Yesui.

The seventh is a memorandum of understanding on railway cooperation between ‘China Railways’ and Morocco’s railway company ‘ONCF’. It was signed, on the Moroccan side, by Equipment minister Aziz Rabbah and ONCF Director General Rabie Khlie, and, on the Chinese side, by minister in charge of national development and reform commission Xu Shaoshi and chairman of China Railways’ board of directors Sheng Guangzu.

The eighth is a memorandum of understanding to reinforce cooperation in the sector of infrastructure construction. Signed by Aziz Rabbah and Gao Hucheng, the MoU is meant to provide support for enterprises of each party in the sector of infrastructure, including design, building, installation, functioning, production, material supply and equipment manufacturing.

The ninth document is a program for the implementation of the cultural cooperation agreement (2016-2020), signed by Culture minister Mohamed Amine Sbihi and Chinese culture minister Luo Shugang.

The tenth is a cooperation agreement on the sectors of geology and mining, inked by energy minister Abdelkader Amara and territory and natural resources minister Jiang Daming.

The eleventh is an agreement of currency SWAP between the two countries’ central banks, namely Bank Al Maghrib and People’s Bank of China. It was signed by governor of Bank Al Maghrib Abdellatif Jouahri and vice president of China’s central bank Chen Yuyu.

Fields of Science

The twelfth agreement is a MoU to foster tourism cooperation, on a reciprocal basis, through encouraging promotional activities, training tourism professionals, organizing internships and exchanging experts. It was signed by Tourism minister, Lahcen Haddad, and president of the tourism national administration, Li Jinzao.

The thirteenth document is a cooperation agreement on the sectors of hydrocarbons and energy. The memorandum, which covers the sectors of oil and gas exploration, unconventional hydrocarbons, electricity, renewable energy, and energy efficiency, was signed by Abdelkader Amara and president of the China’s national energy commission Nur Bekri.

The fourteenth document is a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of food security concerning imported and exported products. It was signed by agriculture minister Aziz Akhannouch and Chinese minister of quality supervision, inspection and quarantine Zhi Shuping.

The fifteenth document is a cooperation agreement in the fields of science, technology and defense industry. It was signed by minister delegate for national defense administration Abdeltif Loudiyi and director of Chinese atomic energy authority Xu Dazhe.

The signing ceremony was attended by the official delegation accompanying King Mohammed VI.

Following this ceremony, the Chinese president offered an official dinner in honor of the King and the delegation accompanying him.

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