Beijing, May 2026 — GCCVest was proud to serve as an official sponsor of the Morocco–China Sports & Culture Festival, held on 9–10 May at the Yuan Li Sports Center in Beijing and co-organised by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in China and Yuan Li Sports. The two-day festival drew envoys and representatives from more than fifty countries for a programme spanning friendship tournaments, cultural performances, a policy forum and a closing gala — one of the most visible celebrations of Morocco–China friendship staged in the Chinese capital to date. As Huanqiu’s coverage of the event put it: “sport crosses mountains and seas, and culture connects hearts.”
A Moroccan caftan on the Beijing runway during the closing gala — part of the first showcase in China by three Moroccan designers. Photo: festival organisers, via Huanqiu.
Why an Investment Firm Sponsors a Sports Festival
For GCCVest, the answer is simple: investment corridors are built on trust before they are built on term sheets. As a firm whose mandate is to bridge Asia and MENA, we see cultural, social, educational, entertainment and sporting exchange not as a sideline to investment connectivity, but as part of its foundation. Capital follows familiarity — and familiarity is created in exactly the settings this festival provided: on the pitch, around the table, and in the shared experience of each other’s music, food and craft.
“The scarcest resource in the Asia–MENA corridor is not capital but mutual understanding,” said Ben Jelloun, Founder and Managing Partner of GCCVest. “Sponsoring this festival is that conviction in practice. Every friendship formed across a football match or a Gnawa rhythm makes the next joint venture a little easier to build.”
Ben Jelloun with members of the Moroccan traditional music ensemble that performed throughout the festival.
Two Days of Sport, Culture and Dialogue
The festival opened with H.E. Abdelkader El Ansari, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to China, describing sport as the best platform for making friends — one that gives the Morocco–China strategic partnership both depth and warmth — before lighting the ceremonial “ball of sport” alongside envoys of more than fifty nations. Friendship tournaments in football, basketball, tennis and badminton brought together diplomats, executives and international school students, while Moroccan musicians and cuisine — including a traditional whole-roast lamb — carried North African warmth into the Beijing arena.
Dignitaries and organisers on stage at the Morocco–China Sports & Culture Festival, Beijing. Photo: festival organisers, via Huanqiu.
Day two moved from the pitch to the podium: a masterclass by Moroccan rhythmic gymnastics champions, a thematic forum on Morocco–China cooperation in sport, culture and trade, and a closing gala that staged the China debut of three Moroccan fashion designers.
A highlight of the gala came when GCCVest’s Ben Jelloun took the stage to present the festival’s grand prize: a fully paid one-week holiday in Morocco — sending one lucky guest from Beijing to experience first-hand the country the festival had spent two days celebrating. It was a fitting gesture for a firm whose work is, in the end, about moving people, capital and confidence across exactly that distance.
GCCVest Founder and Managing Partner Ben Jelloun presents the festival’s grand prize — a fully paid one-week holiday in Morocco — at the closing gala, Yuan Li Sports Center, Beijing.
In Good Company
GCCVest was honoured to sponsor the festival alongside Bank of Africa and Attijariwafa Bank, two of Morocco’s — and Africa’s — leading financial institutions. That three financial firms chose to stand behind a cultural and sporting celebration in Beijing says something about where the Morocco–China relationship is heading: the institutions that move capital across this corridor understand that people-to-people ties are what make that capital productive.
GCCVest congratulates the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in China and Yuan Li Sports on a remarkable event, and looks forward to supporting future initiatives that bring Asia and MENA closer together — on the field, on the stage, and at the table.
The festival was covered by Huanqiu (Global Network); the full report is available via Sina Finance (in Chinese).
About GCCVest
GCCVest Partners is a Hong Kong–based, Middle Eastern–backed cross-border asset management firm investing in Asian champions emerging as global leaders while using MENA as a strategic hub for internationalisation. With teams native in Mandarin and Arabic, GCCVest bridges capital, capability and trust across the Asia–MENA corridor.
For partnership or media enquiries, please contact the GCCVest team via info@gccvest.com.