by Yao Bing, Mahmoud Fouly

MENOUFIA, Egypt, May 28 (Xinhua) -- At a feed factory in Sadat City of Menoufia province, north of the Egyptian capital Cairo, workers were loading poultry feed into trucks waiting in line from local farms.

"The poultry feed produced by New Hope company is popular among local farmers because of its good quality," Ibrahim Hassan, a 36-year-old driver, told Xinhua, noting that his truck can carry 10 tons of feed.

Hassan, who works for a local poultry farm to deliver feed, was referring to New Hope Egypt Co., Ltd., the first feed factory established a decade ago in Egypt by New Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd., which is a leading Chinese corporation in feed, animal farming and food industry.

"The number of poultry birds in our farm has reached 3 million, two-thirds of which are fed by feed produced by New Hope," Hassan said.

The feed conversion ratio is a measure of poultry or livestock production efficiency. It is the ratio of given feed weight over animal weight gain in a certain period of time.

"The lower the feed-to-meat ratio, the higher the level of production efficiency and economic benefits. Before we came here, the ratio in the Egyptian feed industry was 1.8, but now, using our feed, the figure has dropped to 1.5," said Su Hao, general manager of New Hope Egypt Co., Ltd.

The strains used by New Hope in feed production in Egypt are imported from China, which boost the ability of broilers to absorb nutrients from the feed and reduce nitrogen production. "We call the product biological feed, which is characterized by high-quality, eco-friendliness and efficiency," said Yang Luofan, manager of the company's quality control department.

New Hope has four feed manufacturing companies and one poultry farming company in Egypt, with an investment of 600 million Chinese yuan (about 90 million U.S. dollars), creating 800 jobs for Egyptians, said Shao Wen, head of New Hope Egypt area affiliated with the overseas business department of New Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd.

The expansion of China's New Hope in Egypt comes under the umbrella of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which seeks win-win partnerships among participating states.

"We closely follow the steps of the BRI, supported by more than 40 years of expertise of our Chinese technical teams and using leading production technologies to process high-quality feed, which has played a role in the development of Egypt's agriculture and animal husbandry industry," Shao said, adding that many Egyptians have gained better lives and career paths through working for the Chinese firm.

Mohamed Ramadan joined New Hope Egypt Co., Ltd. 10 years ago and he is now a deputy manager of the company's production department.

"When I first joined New Hope, I was a warehouse manager. Through receiving training and continuous learning at the company, I gradually mastered the advanced feed production technology and eventually became a member of the company's management in Egypt," he said, noting that the company has nearly 200 employees and more than 90 percent of them are Egyptians.

Asmaa Saeid, an Egyptian veterinarian, joined New Hope in 2018. She is a deputy manager of the company's technical service department and is responsible for providing technical support for customers and their farms.

"As a female vet, it was not easy to join the farming service team. When I started visiting poultry farms, many farmers were reluctant to let me in because they were worried that my service was not good enough, but in a short while I gained their trust," Asmaa said proudly.

"Now they feel free to call me and tell me any problems they have with feeding their chickens, and I appreciate New Hope for supporting me and giving me this opportunity," she told Xinhua.

Through New Hope, China has contributed to the development of Egypt's animal husbandry industry, which really represents a "new hope," she concluded. Enditem

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