Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) has signed new contracts with four major Chinese textiles companies totaling $65 million in investment, as the world’s second-largest economy deepens its footprint in the African country’s lucrative apparel and garments sector.

What happened: The deals were signed between the SCZone’s industrial developer, El-Sewedy Industrial Development Company, and the four Chinese textiles firms, according to a statement by the Egyptian Commercial Service Office on Monday. The statement did not name the firms but described them as "four of the largest Chinese companies operating in the textile sector."

The SCZone, which spans six seaports and four industrial areas, including Sokhna and Port Said, will host the new factories.

The statement said the companies agreed to establish new textile factories covering 238,000 square meters, expected to create over 3,000 jobs. The factories will be in the SCZone's SOKHNA360 industrial city. El-Sewedy Industrial Development will be working with the Chinese firms on the construction of the facilities, the statement said. It did not say how many factories would be established in total.