Meeting boosts China-Arab ties
Video-link event rolls out specific steps for both sides to bolster strategic partnership
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought China and Arab nations much closer together through the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and the mechanism of political parties’ dialogue, as they take concrete steps to build a China-Arab community with a shared future, officials and experts said.
The ninth ministerial meeting of the forum, held on July 6 via video link, rolled out specific steps for China and the Arab states to strengthen their strategic partnership toward the building of a community with a shared future in the new era.
The meeting, co-chaired by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi, generated three documents as its outcomes — a joint statement by China and Arab states in solidarity and cooperation against COVID-19, the Amman Declaration demonstrating countries’ mutual support for each other’s core interests and their determination to build a community with a shared future, and an action plan for their practical cooperation under the framework of the forum between 2020 and 2022.
China and Arab states agreed to hold the China-Arab summit as part of efforts to enhance the level of their relationship, Wang Di, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of West Asian and North African Affairs, said after the meeting.
Saudi Arabia expressed willingness to convene the summit at a time to be agreed upon, Wang Di said.
“The decision to host such a summit is in itself a testament to the strong determination of both sides to elevate our strategic partnership and deepen cooperation across the board,” he added.
Foreign ministers of League of Arab States members and the league’s Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit attended the meeting. President Xi Jinping, who has attached great importance to developing cooperation with the Arab states, sent a congratulatory message to the meeting, expressing the hope that China and Arab states can enhance strategic communication, coordination and pragmatic cooperation, and make more substantial and practical efforts in building the China-Arab community with a shared future.
The forum, founded in 2004, has facilitated China’s cooperation and communication with Arab states.
During the eighth ministerial meeting of the forum held in Beijing in 2018, Xi announced the establishment of the China-Arab futureoriented strategic partnership of comprehensive cooperation and common development.
Since then, the two sides have intensified their mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, particularly under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Wang Di said that at the meeting on July 6 the vision of building a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era was written into the Amman Declaration as the consensus of China and Arab states.
An extraordinary meeting of the Dialogue between the Communist Party of China and Political Parties of Arab Countries was held via video link on June 22. More than 60 leaders of major political parties from Arab nations attended the meeting. Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, sent a congratulatory message to the meeting.
He said in the message that during the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Arab countries have rendered each other assistance and support, adding a new chapter to the effort of building a community with a shared future for China and Arab states.
When China was at a trying time in its own fight against COVID-19, Arab states showed solidarity with China by voicing support and donating medical supplies. Some famous landmarks, including ancient temples in Egypt and the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates, were lit up in the colors of China’s national flag.
As the pandemic started to rage in the Arab world, China delivered much-needed supplies and shared its experience of combating the disease via videoconferences with medical workers from 21 Arab states and sent medical experts to eight Arab states.
In its latest medical aid, the Chinese government delivered supplies to the League of Arab States in Cairo, Egypt, on July 5. Hossam Zaki, assistant secretary-general of the Arab League, said the donation “reflects the depth of cooperation and friendship between the Arab League and China, especially in the light of the current circumstances and challenges the world faces”, Xinhua News Agency reported.
During the meeting on July 6, countries also reiterated their commitment to stepping up joint construction of the Belt and Road, and agreed on 107 items of cooperation in 20 areas including politics, the economy, energy, industrial capacity, health, science and technology, that will be carried out in the next two years.