Accelerating the building of the Chinese-Arab community for a common future towards the new era.....on the occasion of the tenth session of the Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum

The 10th session of the Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum will be held on May 30 in Beijing on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum. Since this session is the first session of the Ministerial Meeting to be held after the successful first China-Arab Summit, it is of great importance for implementing the outcomes of the China-Arab Summit and accelerating the development of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum. Building the Chinese-Arab community for a common future towards the new era.

The first China-Arab Summit was held in December 2022 in Saudi Arabia, where President Xi Jinping attended the summit and delivered the keynote speech. He summarized the spirit of China-Arab friendship of “solidarity, synergy, equality, mutual benefit, inclusion and mutual benefit,” and set the course and direction for building the Chinese-Arab community for a shared future. He proposed the “Eight Joint Actions” on practical cooperation between China and the Arab countries, which received a warm response in the Arab countries. The Chinese-Arab community’s building of a common future, which has been moving steadily forward for more than a year, has become a glorious banner under which consensus has crystallized. Sino-Arab relations at the political, developmental, security and civilizational levels, and lead Sino-Arab relations to pave the way and move forward with great strides.

China and the Arab countries continue to enhance strategic cooperation to achieve a higher level of mutual strategic trust. President Xi Jinping successfully received the leaders of Palestine, Algeria, Syria, Mauritania and other Arab countries in China, guiding China-Arab relations to develop at a high level. Comprehensive strategic partnership relations or strategic partnership relations have been established between China and 14 Arab countries and the League of Arab States so far, after the establishment of Strategic partnership relations between China and both Palestine and Syria. The Arab world has become one of the regions that has the highest percentage of China's strategic partners. The Arab countries firmly support China's efforts to preserve its core interests and major concerns, and remain committed to the one-China principle and pursue the one-China policy. In return, China firmly supports the efforts of Arab countries to enhance strategic independence, preserve the country's sovereignty and the nation's dignity, settle disputes and differences through dialogue and consultation, and pursue the path of self-strengthening through solidarity to achieve collective security.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict that erupted since last October has resulted in a large number of deaths and injuries among civilians and a serious humanitarian crisis. No peace-loving country or people can remain indifferent before this scene. In the face of the dangerous situation, China has been standing on the side of truth, justice and the right side of history, and pushing the international community to focus its efforts on ceasefire, preventing fighting, protecting the safety of civilians, expanding humanitarian relief, implementing the "two-state solution" and finding a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue at an early date. We stand in solidarity. China cooperates with Arab countries, which has enhanced their mutual trust in the struggle to defend international justice.

China and the Arab countries continue to expand practical cooperation between them to achieve mutual benefit and win-win with higher quality. China has signed cooperation documents with all Arab countries and the League of Arab States to build the “Belt and Road,” and the two sides have implemented more than 200 major projects within the framework of the “Belt and Road,” Nearly two billion people on both sides benefit from the results of cooperation. China remains the largest trading partner of Arab countries for many consecutive years. During the past two years, the volume of trade exchange between the two sides has reached a new level, as this volume now remains at the record level of 400 billion US dollars. This is 10 times what it was 20 years ago. Chinese-Arab cooperation is also witnessing significant progress in the fields of energy, finance, infrastructure, and others, as China imported 265 million tons of crude oil from Arab countries in 2023, and this number constitutes 47% of China’s imports. Total crude oil imports from abroad, and Chinese-Arab cooperation is progressing in the fields of photovoltaic energy, wind energy, nuclear energy for civil purposes, and hydrogen energy. The Chinese currency is rapidly entering Arab countries, as China has signed or extended local currency exchange agreements with Egypt, the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, and issued Successfully Egypt Panda Bonds in China. In the field of infrastructure, a series of “new landmarks built by China in Arab countries have appeared, such as the building in the new Egyptian administrative capital, which the Egyptians call the “New Pyramid,” which is the tallest building in Africa, and the highway linking eastern and western Algeria, whose length exceeds 1,200 kilometers. Lusail Stadium is the main stadium for the World Cup in Qatar, and the Mohammed VI Bridge in Morocco, which is the largest suspension bridge in Africa. Chinese-Arab cooperation has also achieved fruitful results in the fields of information, communications, aviation, space, big data, artificial intelligence, and other advanced and modern fields, in addition to the high-level operation of the centers. Many areas in the areas of technology transfer, the Beidou satellite navigation system and international research to combat drought, desertification and land degradation, forming a technology transfer and cooperation network linking scientific research institutions and innovative companies from China and Arab countries.

China and the Arab countries continue to expand civilizational communication, which has achieved deeper understanding between peoples. China and the Arab countries are strengthening continuous communication on governance and management, as the Chinese side succeeded in organizing 4 sessions of the China-Arab Forum for Reform and Development and 20 teaching courses for Arab countries hosted by the China-Arab Studies Center for Reform and Development, in which about 500 government officials and academics were trained in Intellectual institutions and media professionals in Arab countries. We find that the exchange of benefits between the Chinese and Arab civilizations is progressing at the forefront of the countries of the world, as the League of Arab States was the first regional organization in the world to issue a document with China regarding the implementation of the Global Civilization Initiative at the first session of the Liangzhou Forum, which was held in December 2023, and it was the first organization A regional region in the world signed a cooperation document with China regarding the establishment of an association of intellectual institutions in January 2024. Various periodic events were held, including the first session of the China-Arab Youth Development Forum, the tenth session of the Symposium on China-Arab Relations, the Dialogue between Chinese and Arab Civilizations, and the fifth session of the Arab Arts Festival. Contributed to activating exchange in all fields in a comprehensive manner. 50 books of classical Chinese and Arabic literature have been translated and published within the framework of the “Exchange of Translation and Publishing of Chinese and Arabic Writings.” Chinese audio-visual programs such as “Migration to Happiness,” “Medal of the Republic,” and “Masks and Treasures” have been widely received by the Arab public, exceeding The total number of clicks has been 500 million times. There is also a great demand from Arab countries to learn the Chinese language, as China has established 21 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in cooperation with 13 Arab countries, and teaching the Chinese language has been officially included in the national education system in the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, and Djibouti. The exchange of personnel is recovering rapidly from the impact of the new Corona virus pandemic, as the number of flights between China and the Arab countries has exceeded what it was before the pandemic, in addition to the opening of new flights between Beijing and Riyadh and between Xiamen and Doha, which contributed to the establishment of new air corridors for Chinese-Arab friendship. .

The early harvest of building a Chinese-Arab community for a shared future indicates that the development of Chinese-Arab relations is in line with the desire and aspirations of peoples, is consistent with the common interest of both sides, and has promising prospects and a bright future. At the tenth session of the ministerial meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, which will be held soon, China will continue to work with Arab countries to accelerate the pace of implementation of the outcomes of the first China-Arab Summit, and push Chinese-Arab relations towards a broader future, raising high the banner of establishing a Chinese-Arab community for a shared future.

China will continue to walk with Arab countries on the path of mutual strategic trust, to consolidate solid political foundations. The rejuvenation of the nation is a common dream of the Chinese and Arab sides, and independence and self-strengthening are a common endeavor for them. China will establish strategic partnership relations with more Arab countries, and will work with Arab countries as usual to exchange support for the other party in its efforts to preserve its core interests, so that the two sides will be brothers who work together and support each other. China will continue to enhance cooperation and coordination with Arab countries in regional and international affairs, and determine its positions and policies. According to the nature of matters, it seeks to find solutions to hot issues, taking into account the legitimate demands of all parties, to promote peace and stability in the Middle East region, maintain international justice and fairness, and push global governance towards a direction that serves the interests of developing countries.

China will continue to walk with Arab countries on the path of prosperity and openness, for a stronger development dynamic. China's drive to open up to the West coincides with the Arab countries' drive to develop to the East, which has formed a tremendous trend of cooperation characterized by complementarity of advantages, mutual benefit and mutual gain. China will continue to work with Arab countries to build the Belt and Road with high quality, adding vibrant modern vitality to the ancient Silk Road. China will continue to work with Arab countries to establish cooperation in the field of energy as the main focus and enhance partnership relations for energy supply and demand between them. China welcomes the Arab countries to increase investment in Chinese development. At the same time, it will continue to support the Arab side to implement major model projects and small, beautiful and effective projects, and will work with the Arab side to create a growth pole for advanced and modern industries that includes more scientific and technological components.

China will continue to walk with the Arab countries on the path of inclusion and mutual benefit, and conduct more diverse cultural exchanges. The Chinese and Arab civilizations meet after crossing the mountains and seas, and the understanding between them has existed for thousands of years, and they have recorded famous stories in history of cohesion and mutual benefit between different civilizations. China will continue to work on the Arab countries to explore various development paths for modernization, further strengthen cultural and popular communication in various fields including culture, education, tourism, youth and the arts, and devote the common human values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, rejecting the “clash of civilizations theory” and boycotting the “clash of civilizations theory”. Islamophobia, diversifying the garden of civilizations in the world, and leading human civilization towards the direction of mutual respect and harmonious coexistence.

China will continue to walk with Arab countries on the path of collective cooperation, to establish a more integrated platform. The past 20 years since the establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum have been years of prosperous and vibrant development. During which 19 important mechanisms were established within the framework of the forum, including the ministerial meeting, the strategic political dialogue, the reform and development forum, and the energy cooperation conference, and 85 important documents were issued, which set a model for collective cooperation among developing countries. "From good to better" Since the China-Arab community's establishment of a shared future has opened a new era for China-Arab relations, it will certainly mark a new page in the construction of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum and lead it on the new path. The Chinese side will continue to work with the Arab side to strengthen the construction of the forum to create another 20 more wonderful years, in which there will be collective cooperation between China and the Arab countries towards the lofty goal of establishing a Chinese-Arab community for a shared future!