Casablanca – Chinese textile group Shengtai is advancing plans for a major industrial project in Morocco that could reach $236 million, as the company moves through the administrative procedures required for its overseas investment. The planned development would create an integrated textile manufacturing complex covering several stages of production, from cotton spinning and weaving to dyeing, finishing and garment manufacturing. The project is expected to strengthen Morocco’s position as an export-oriented textile production base while creating thousands of jobs and increasing domestic capacity for textile inputs.

Shengtai, also known as Sunrise Group and formally identified as Shengtai Intelligent Manufacturing Group Co., Ltd., has recently obtained two additional approvals from authorities in China’s Hunan province. The approvals include an overseas investment certificate and a project registration notice issued by the provincial authorities responsible for development and reform. The decisions provide another administrative step toward the company’s planned investment in Morocco.

The project has been under preparation since 2025, when Shengtai’s governing bodies approved the principle of an investment agreement with Morocco. Details of the proposed development were subsequently disclosed to the Chinese market. The latest approvals do not mean that construction can begin immediately, however. Further procedures, financing arrangements and implementation decisions remain necessary, and the company has not yet established a definitive construction timetable.

The planned facility, referred to as the Shengtai Morocco Green Textile Industrial Park, is expected to cover approximately 34 hectares. Rather than focusing exclusively on garment assembly, the project is designed to integrate several stages of textile manufacturing. This would include spinning, weaving, dyeing, fabric finishing and clothing production.

The announced production capacities illustrate the scale of the planned operation. At full development, the complex is expected to have around 100,000 cotton-spinning spindles, capacity to produce approximately 10,800 tons of dyed and finished fabrics, around 15 million meters of woven fabrics, and as many as 22 million garments annually.

The combination of upstream and downstream production is particularly relevant to Morocco’s textile industry. Moroccan manufacturers continue to rely on imported textile inputs for part of their production, including yarn and fabrics. Increasing domestic manufacturing capacity in these areas could shorten supply chains and give local producers greater access to materials within the country.

The project is also expected to serve international markets. Shengtai has identified overseas expansion and geographic diversification as important elements of its strategy. Establishing a production base in Morocco would allow the company to locate part of its manufacturing operations closer to major consumer markets while reducing its dependence on a single production geography.

Morocco’s location is an important factor in this strategy. The country provides relatively close access to European markets and has established transport, port and logistics infrastructure supporting industrial exports. Its position between Europe and Africa also gives manufacturers an opportunity to serve several regional markets from one production base.

The group’s international activities already represent a substantial part of its business. According to information provided by the company, overseas operations accounted for 66.83% of revenue in 2025. The Moroccan project would therefore fit into an existing international expansion strategy rather than representing an isolated overseas investment.

Employment is another major component of the planned development. The project is expected to create approximately 7,000 direct jobs by 2030, with more than 1,500 additional indirect positions potentially generated through suppliers, logistics, maintenance and other related activities. Reaching those employment targets would require recruitment and training to take place progressively as individual production units become operational.

The range of activities planned at the complex means that employment requirements would extend well beyond garment workers. The project is expected to need production operators, textile technicians, maintenance specialists, quality-control staff, logistics personnel, production supervisors and industrial managers. Additional expertise would be required in areas such as dyeing, finishing, energy management and wastewater treatment.

Training could therefore become an important part of the project’s implementation. Morocco already has vocational and specialized institutions serving the textile and industrial sectors, while companies establishing large production facilities commonly need to provide additional training on specific machinery and production standards. During the early stages, technical knowledge transfer from Shengtai’s existing operations in China could also help prepare local employees for the company’s production systems.

The environmental component of the project is another feature of the planned complex. The development is expected to include facilities for heat production and industrial wastewater treatment. These systems are particularly relevant to textile manufacturing because dyeing and finishing processes can require significant amounts of water, energy and chemical inputs.

The project’s green designation will therefore depend partly on how efficiently these resources are managed and how industrial wastewater is treated. Technical personnel with expertise in energy efficiency, environmental management, water treatment, industrial safety and automated production could become important to the operation of the complex.

For Morocco, the investment comes as the country seeks to increase the domestic value generated by export-oriented industries. In textiles, expanding production beyond final garment assembly toward spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing could create a more integrated supply chain.

Greater integration could also improve the ability of Moroccan manufacturers to respond to international buyers seeking shorter and more flexible supply chains. Local access to yarn and fabrics could reduce the time required to source intermediate products from abroad, although the ultimate impact will depend on the competitiveness, quality and pricing of locally produced materials.

The investment also carries potential risks. Shengtai has indicated that changes in global economic conditions, textile-market demand, construction costs, industrial policies and the performance of partners could influence the project. The company has not ruled out delays, modifications or changes in the scale of implementation if market conditions develop differently from expectations.

Financing is another factor. The announced $236 million represents the maximum planned investment rather than necessarily the final amount that will be spent. Shengtai may rely on a combination of its own funds, bank financing and other sources of capital. A phased development could allow the company to distribute spending over several years and adjust investment according to market conditions.

The final cost will depend on actual expenditures as construction and equipment installation progress. The same applies to production capacity and employment, which are expected to be introduced progressively rather than all at once.

If implemented according to the current plan, the Shengtai project would add a substantial new manufacturing operation to Morocco’s textile industry. Its combination of yarn, fabric and garment production could expand domestic industrial capacity while providing the Chinese group with an additional base for serving international markets.

The project would also deepen industrial links between Morocco and Chinese manufacturers at a time when the Kingdom is attracting investment into export-oriented manufacturing. However, its contribution to employment, exports and local supply chains will ultimately depend on the completion of the remaining approvals, financing arrangements and construction phases.

For now, the latest Chinese authorizations indicate that Shengtai’s Moroccan investment is continuing through the preparatory stage. The next steps will involve completing the remaining administrative procedures, arranging financing and establishing the timetable for construction and phased production. If those conditions are met, the planned complex could become a significant addition to Morocco’s textile manufacturing capacity by the end of the decade.