Moulay Hafid Elalamy, the moroccan minister of industry, trade, Investment and digital economy, said on Friday that Chinese investments in Morocco rose by 94 percent in 2015 to hit 40 million U.S. dollars.

In an interview published in the Moroccan weekly "Financial News", Elalamy stressed that Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rose by 195 per cent between 2011 and 2015 and multiplied by 5 in the 2013-2014 period.

He added that within the space of two years, China gained 15 places in the ranking of countries investing in Morocco, moving from the 32th position in 2013 to the 17th in 2015.

"China is poised to become an important source of FDI in Morocco, and bilateral relations are expected to further be boosted following the recent establishment of strategic partnership between the two countries." The Moroccan minister said.