Morocco has recently signed a Belt and Road Initiative implementation plan with China as the First North African nation to commit to the implementation plan, the Chinese online newspaper South China Morning Post said.
According to the same source "Observers said it meant China could expand its use of Morocco as a link for trade between Africa and Europe, but would focus less on energy and resources trade than was the case in its dealings with other African nations."
"The plan includes the two nations creating joint ventures in the energy industry, and more Chinese investment in Morocco’s health, financial and agricultural industries", the newspaper pointed out.
Zhang Yuyou, an associate professor at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at China’s Northwest University, said to the Chinese newspaper, that he expected that cooperation between the countries would focus less on the resources trade and more on Morocco’s geographical advantages.
“In the past, China’s cooperation in the region was mainly with resource-rich countries, but Morocco is an exception,” Zhang said. “The cooperation between the two countries can create a less resource-based cooperation model.”
Morocco could be used as a transit point for China to link Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, Zhang said, citing the example of Chinese car part makers in Morocco being able to sell parts directly to Europe at low cost.
“Morocco is China’s important potential bridgehead in the Mediterranean,” he said.
Zeno Leoni, an affiliate to the Lau China Institute at King’s College London, said the cooperation plan might also have regional potential for China. He said that its cooperation with Morocco was likely to cover only infrastructure and trade, keeping it within the framework of China-Africa cooperation.
Chinese company Huawei was contracted for a Moroccan telecommunications project in 2019, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.
“It is unlikely, at this stage, to follow the same level of cooperation that we have seen in the Gulf, where more high-end products – 5G and drones, among other things – have become prominent in the relationship,” Leoni said.
“It is true, however, that its geography makes it palatable in any great power politics context.”
Leoni added that the agreement could increase Beijing’s soft power and help to familiarise those in the region with Chinese institutions and businesses.
But Zhang said other countries such as France and the United States would continue to be allies and important economic and trade partners of Morocco.
