Report summarizes key points in Sino-Arab ties

The Foreign Ministry has released a report on China-Arab cooperation in the new era that aims to summarize mutual outcomes and experiences, and also outlines plans for the future development of Sino-Arab ties, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday.

The four-chapter report, released on Thursday, looked back at the history of friendly exchanges between China and Arab countries and reviewed practices of friendly interactions since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, especially in the 21st century.

It also laid out prospects for the way forward in building a community with a shared future between China and Arab states.

“The relations between China and Arab states are time-honored and our exchanges over the long history have set an example for friendly exchanges between different nations,” Zhao said.

He said that for more than 70 years since the founding of PRC, China and Arab states have respected each other, treated each other on an equal footing, engaged in mutually beneficial cooperation and learned from each other.

“Our friendly cooperation has achieved historic leaps forward, both in breadth and depth,” he said.

According to the report, China and Arab nations have conducted pragmatic cooperation in various fields including the Belt and Road Initiative, trade and economy, energy and high technology.

So far, China has signed cooperative documents with 20 Arab countries and the Arab League on jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative, with more than 200 large projects in energy and infrastructure having been implemented.

Two-way trade volume between China and Arab nations in the first nine months of this year has exceeded $319.2 billion, representing nearly the entire amount recorded last year, the report said.

China has all along viewed Arab states as strategic partners in terms of pursuing peaceful development, Zhao said, adding that Beijing will continue to work with Arab nations to carry forward traditional friendship, deepen cooperation in various fields and strengthen cultural exchanges in order to build a China-Arab community with a shared future that benefits the peoples of both sides.