Egypt to sign USD 1.2 bn loan agreement next month for 10 Ramadan-Salam rail: Egypt will sign next month a USD 1.2 bn loan agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China to build an electric rail line linking Salam City with Tenth of Ramadan City and the new administrative capital, Transport Minister Hisham Arafat said yesterday, Al Shorouk reports. Work on the project is set to start in early 2019 and is expected to take two years to complete, the minister added. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi had signed an MoU for the loan last year during a visit to China. China Exim had agreed then to cover the project’s full cost after it was set to provide only USD 739 mn.

Egypt, China sign three MoUs in education, agriculture, antiquities: This came as Egypt and China signed an MoU yesterday for a USD 11.5 mn grant to finance the first two phases of a joint distance learning project between the Investment Ministry and the China International Development Cooperation Agency, according to a Cabinet statement. The two sides also signed agreements on cooperation in agricultural investments and the preservation of antiquities during Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan’s visit to Cairo. Wang and his delegation also sat down with El Sisi and a number of state ministers.

Egypt-China relations are being increasingly prioritized by the leaderships of both countries: Frequent and repeated high profile visits by heads of state and other officials between Egypt and China signals the growing importance of the relationship to leaderships of both countries, Xinhua notes.