In the northwestern Moroccan port city of Ghenitra, workers at CITIC Dicastal's Morocco plant are methodically operating equipment in the workshop. An aluminum ingot is melted, cast, processed and coated into a shiny car wheel hub, which will be sold to the market soon.
“This factory represents the advanced level of global aluminum wheel manufacturing.” Zhou Hongji, vice president of the plant, said in an interview with Xinhua that the plant has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a “lighthouse factory,” a title that means Chinese companies have brought the industry's most advanced technology and equipment to Morocco.
CITIC Dicastal has built two aluminum wheel factories and one aluminum casting factory in Morocco. Abdul Karim is a manager of the factory, who has been promoted three times in seven years. Karim told the reporter that working in Chinese enterprises, “as long as you work hard, you will surely be rewarded”.
In recent years, Morocco through strategic industrial layout, quickly build up the automobile industry chain, automobile and parts exports have become an important engine to pull the country's economic growth. In this process, Chinese enterprises represented by CITIC Dicastal actively participate in helping the country's automotive industry chain to improve and upgrade.
“Morocco is currently in an important stage of development and has great potential for cooperation with China in many fields.” Li Changlin, Chinese ambassador to Morocco, said in an interview.
Nasser Bouchiba, a Moroccan entrepreneur who has cooperated with Chinese companies in the fields of agriculture, desalination and mining, told reporters that there is also a vast space for cooperation between Morocco and China in livelihood projects. “Livelihood projects help promote people-to-people communication, and I choose to cooperate with Chinese companies because they have strong competitiveness.”
Located in the northwest of the African continent, Morocco not only borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, but also connects Europe, Africa and the Middle East, giving it a unique geographical advantage. As one of the three host countries of the 2030 World Cup, Morocco is vigorously developing its automotive industry while continuing to increase investment in transportation, electricity and other fields to create superior supporting facilities for attracting foreign investment.
In the northeastern Moroccan city of Nazour, the first overseas factory project of Chinese private enterprise Ailang Technology Co Ltd, which specializes in the production of wind turbine blades, is nearing completion. “Our factory will start trial production at the end of May, which will provide about 3,000 local jobs.” Xu Wenjun, deputy general manager of the factory, told reporters.
Inside the spacious plant, dozens of meters of wind turbine blades are neatly arranged, and Chinese and Moroccan workers are cleaning the surface of the blades. “It's great for me to work here.” Oumaima, who has just joined the company, told reporters, “Both Morocco and China are committed to green development. Here, I not only learn new knowledge, but also touch the direction of the future.”
In Morocco, Chinese enterprises not only in the manufacturing industry and the new energy field to show their skills, but also actively explore the local market, so that the quality of “Made in China” as the market development of new vitality.
In Morocco's largest city Casablanca, China National Heavy Duty Truck (CNHTC) produces engineering vehicles that are favored by local customers because of their high quality and low price. Wang Chao, manager of China National Heavy Duty Truck (CNHTC) Africa Department, introduced that a concrete mixer truck produced by the company, priced at 1.1 million Moroccan dirhams (about 860,000 yuan), was sold about 200 units in Morocco last year, and has become one of the most popular models of its kind in the local market.
“Our concrete mixer trucks are more in line with local demand than models produced in Europe and can effectively reduce transportation costs.” Wang Chao said. Due to the surge in demand, some construction vehicles have been in short supply. China National Heavy Duty Truck (CNHTC) plans to expand its service outlets in Morocco to 10 by the end of this year, which will make it easier to provide auto parts and services to customers.
“China National Heavy Duty Truck's products have outstanding advantages and high cost performance, which are very popular in the Moroccan market. Our sales are growing steadily. I believe that China represents the future.” Shadia El Mansouri, distribution partner of China National Heavy Duty Truck in Morocco, said.
