Egypt signed a $600 million framework agreement with the China Railway Construction Corporation Limited to renovate railway tracks along the the national railway network, Reuters reported on Monday.

In a visit to China in December, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi invited Chinese businesses to invest in the country and proposed several railway projects.

Egypt’s railway, which transports around 1.4 million passengers every day, has been struggling with an outdated system for years.

The ageing railway needs around LE41 billion to develop 700 outdated carriages and 21 tractor units, the Minister of Transportation Hany Dahy was quoted by state-owned news agency MENA in November.

With imports worth $5 billion  in 2013/14, China is Egypt's fifth largest trading partner after the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the US and Italy, according to Central Bank data.