Two wheels and two wings: the political economy of Chinese industrial park ports in the Middle East

This article explores the ways in which China is reshaping the political economy of the Middle East through the construction of industrial park-ports (IPPs). Using the Chinese-built Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation zone in Egypt as an empirical reference point, it situates IPP development within the trajectory of Chinese capitalism and traces how these infrastructural visions become realised across different political economic contexts, painting a complex picture of China's infrastructural engagement with the region. IPP agreements across the region highlight China's growing emphasis on investment, trade and industrial capacity promotion, alongside the priority of access to energy supplies. However. joint infrastructure projects in Egypt also reveals new modes of accumulation and their associated politics generated by the production of fixed capital extending beyond the functionality of infrastructure itself. Rather than facilitating productive activity and augmenting industry, the Suez IPP operates as a rent-generating asset, serving the political economic objectives of the host government and reinforcing the ruling military regime's stability. Infrastructures involving Chinese investments and expertise emerge as sites of dynamic relations that mediate and translate a variety of intersecting ambitions.