According to the China Customs, the bilateral trade volume between China and Egypt in 2005 reached US$2.14 billion, up by 36.1 percent year on year, among which China's export to Egypt was US$1.93 billion, up by 39.3 percent year on year, while China's import from Egypt was US$210 million, up by 12.3 percent year on year. China had a surplus of US$1.72 billion. China mainly exported to Egypt garments and clothing accessories, cotton, man- made filaments, plastics and products thereof, organic chemical products, mechanical apparatus and parts, motive power machines and equipment, iron and steel products, vehicles and parts. China's main imports from Egypt included cotton, textile yarn and knitted products thereof, man-made filaments, carpets and other textile floor coverings, iron and steel, mechanical apparatus and parts, plastics, metals, mineral materials and products thereof.
According to the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as MOFCOM), the turnover of completed engineering contracts by the Chinese companies in Egypt reached US$280 million in 2005, and the number of newly-signed contracts reached 1301, totaling US$330 million. The volume of completed labor service cooperation contracts was US$30,000, and that of the newly-signed labor service cooperation contracts was US$30,000. By the end of 2005, the accumulated turnover of completed engineering contracts by the Chinese companies amounted to US$640 million with a total contractual value of US$990 million; 93 labor service cooperation contracts had been signed with a total contractual amount of US$440million.
Approved by or registered with MOFCOM, China set up five non-financial Chinese-funded enterprises in Egypt in 2005 with a contractual investment from the Chinese side standing at US$13.75 million.
Statistics of MOFCOM show Egypt invested in 18 projects in China in 2005 with a contractual investment of US$15.12 million, up by 157.1 percent and 168.1 percent respectively year on year; while the actua l utilization was US$5.32 million, up by 34.3 percent year on year. By the end of 2005, Egypt had accumulatively invested in 57 projects in China with a contractual investment of US$59.39 million and an actual paid-up capital of US$13.46 million.