Construction is underway at the West Qantara Industrial Zone’s first project: China’s Zhejiang Hengsheng Dyeing and Finishing Company has laid the foundation stone for its dyeing, processing, and textile manufacturing project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone’s West Qantara Industrial Zone, with investments amounting to USD 70 mn, according to an SCZone statement.

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The details: The Chinese textile giant will develop the factory in two phases on a 200k sqm plot of land in Qantara with plans to begin the first stage of production during 1H 2026. Hengsheng is looking to achieve annual sales worth USD 300 mn and says that the factory is expected to create some 1.5k direct jobs.

Déjà vu? The company initially signed a usufruct contract with the SCZone for the project back in October of last year, as part of a set of textile projects agreed upon with Chinese companies at the time.

The first of many companies to head to Qantara West: The SCZone has so far received offers from 15 companies that have indicated interest in implementing projects in the area — projects that, when completed, will add 18k jobs to the market, SCZone head Walid Gamal El Din said. Of the 15 companies, six have already inked final contracts for the projects, Gamal El Din added. The SCZone is aiming to export 80% of the companies’ output.

Chinese investment is an important part of the SCZone’s investment landscape: “The SCZone succeeded in attracting 128 projects worth USD 6 bn in the past two years, of which Chinese investments represent 40%,” Gamal El Din said in May. There is a “legitimate ambition” to bring up the number of Chinese companies with operations in the SCZone to 1k by 2030, Gamal El Din added.

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