China’s Growing Influence in Morocco Raises Concerns for Algeria

While a communiqué from the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifies that the talks between the Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf and his Chinese counterpart focused on "the cooperation and partnership relations between the two countries, in particular the evaluation of the progress made in the implementation of the results of the state visit" carried out by the Algerian president "to China in the middle of last year", and that the two officials addressed "the various issues of interest to the two countries at the present time, in particular the incessant Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, reaffirming the need to strengthen coordination between the delegations of the two countries to the UN Security Council in favor of the Palestinian cause and for the consecration of the inalienable and imprescriptible rights of the Palestinian people", the real reasons for this visit would be elsewhere.

"The Algerian president was seized with panic following the announcement of several massive Chinese investments in Morocco, the western neighbor so demonized by the Algerian regime that it considers as its ’first enemy’," learns Maghreb-Intelligence, specifying that Abdelmadjid Tebboune "sent his foreign minister as a personal representative to meet with the Chinese authorities in order to find solutions to the non-realization of several Chinese investments that were supposed to take place during his 1st presidential term." Since 2022, trade between Morocco and China has jumped by more than 50%, reaching a volume of $7.6 billion. As for investments, Beijing has implemented several strategic initiatives on Moroccan territory, including the emergence of the Mohammed VI Tanger Tech Industrial City, which is on its way to becoming a major economic hub. In addition, more than 80 projects benefiting from Chinese financing are underway in the kingdom. In 2023, the total Chinese investments announced in the automotive industry in Morocco have reached around $9.5 billion.

In Beijing, Ahmed Attaf was tasked with making several attractive proposals to the Chinese partners, including the promise of many public contracts to Chinese companies in Algeria and the lifting of all bureaucratic or political obstacles. A seduction operation for the neighbor who has lost its status as China’s leading economic and commercial partner in Africa to Nigeria, Angola and Egypt or even (soon) Morocco. According to the latest customs statistics, trade between Algiers and Beijing amounted to around $7.3 billion in 2021 compared to $12.3 billion in 2017.