China and Morocco have signed a framework agreement to launch the long-awaited Mohammed VI Tangier Science and Technology City project. The deal, first proposed in 2016, was finalized at a ceremony in Rabat attended by various Moroccan ministries, including industry and trade, water, economy and finance, as well as the Tangier Regional Council, the African Bank, the Tangier Mediterranean Special Organizations and Tangier Technology Management Company, and executives from Beijing Zhonglu Urban Development Co., Ltd., China Communications Construction and its subsidiaries China Road and Bridge Corporation, and China Communications Investment, attended the Chinese side.

The 2,167-hectare tech city is expected to house around 200 Chinese companies and aims to create a sustainable, integrated, smart industrial city that will breathe new life into the kingdom's economic activity and consolidate its presence in the Euro-Mediterranean region status.

The project will include a 947-hectare industrial acceleration zone, where the main manufacturing plants will be located, and a 1,220-hectare smart city consisting of residential, leisure, tourism development, and the public infrastructure required for industrial development. The operations will span multiple industries, including on-site automotive, aerospace, textile, electronics and machinery plants.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Industry and Trade Minister Ryad Mezzour said that this is an industrial pillar that will support our national industrial strategy, thereby enhancing Morocco's international attractiveness and competitiveness.

The tech city was first announced in Beijing in 2016 and officially launched with much fanfare in March 2017, but was quietly abandoned in 2018. The plan is to invest $1 billion to build a 10-year manufacturing and technology project center. It was initially sponsored by Chengdu-based airline Haite Group and Morocco's BMCE African Bank. However, Haight pulled out of the plan, citing issues of its size and a dispute over who would own the completed assets. Keywords: engineering news, overseas news

In 2019, Hite was replaced by Chinese construction giant China Communications, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the Moroccan government during the Belt and Road Summit in Beijing on April 26. The city is now scheduled to be completed in 2027.Editor/XingWentao