(Ecofin Agency) - Chinese aeronautics firm Haite Group, Morocco-China International and BMCE Bank of Africa signed on May 12, 2016, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish in Morocco, an China-Morocco industrial park, a China-Morocco $1bn investment fund, focused on financial services, aeronautics, industrial parks and infrastructure.

The agreement also plans for the creation of management fund and the reinforcement of partnership in the sectors of life insurance in China, plane leasing, as well as for a technical partnership for the establishment of a bank focused on new technologies in China.

The MoU is part of the fifteen public-private partnership agreements signed during Mohammed VI’s visit to China, and falling under the strategic partnership between both countries.

On May 11, 2016, King Mohammed VI and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a joint statement for the establishment of a strategic partnership between Morocco and China and affecting the legal, economic, financial, industrial, cultural, touristic, power, infrastructure and consular fields. The goal is to boost bilateral cooperation in sectors with high potential for job and value-added creation. It also aims to prepare the country and the continent for the easy implementation of Chinese firms.