By Elijah Nduhukire
President Of China H.E Xi Jinping has commended the relationship the Arab community has played over the years to deepen cooperation and building up strong ties.
He echoed his appreciation at opening ceremony of the Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum which was attended by Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, President Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi of Egypt, President Kais Saied,
His Highness President Mohamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan of Saudi Arabia,
Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit of the League of Arab States and other dignitaries.
The Chinese President Jinping revealed that Arab peoples are deeply rooted in friendly exchanges along the ancient Silk Road, in joint struggles for national liberation, and in our win-win cooperation in promoting national development.
China-Arab relations have kept scaling new heights since the beginning of the new century. At the first China-Arab States Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December 2022,
Arab colleagues and china have agreed unanimously to build a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era.
“China is satisfied with the progress we have made in delivering on the Summit’s outcomes. It will work with the Arab side to enhance the role of the Summit in providing strategic guidance for continued leapfrog growth of China-Arab relations. I am pleased to announce that we will host the second Summit in China in 2026, which will be another milestone in China-Arab relations”, H.E Jinping said.
China will work with the Arab side as good partners to make relations a model for maintaining world peace and stability.
In this turbulent world, peaceful relations come from mutual respect, and lasting security is built on fairness and justice. We will, together with the Arab side, respect the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, the independent choice of every nation and the reality formed in history, and strive together for solutions to hotspot issues that uphold fairness and justice and sustain peace and security.
China will work with the Arab side in the spirit of equality and mutual benefit to make our relations a fine example of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. The Silk Road spirit is passed on from generation to generation. It keeps China-Arab relations abreast with the times to the benefit of the two peoples. In this interdependent world, will further synergize development strategies with the Arab side.
The republic of China will also strengthen cooperation in key areas such as oil, gas, trade and infrastructure, step up fostering new growth areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), investment, financing and new energy, and embark together on an innovative and green path to prosperity.
At the first China-Arab States Summit, I put forward “eight major cooperation initiatives” for our practical cooperation. Since then, the Belt and Road cooperation documents we signed have expanded to cover a full range of areas thanks to our joint efforts over the past one year and more.
There will be an expanded framework for investment and finance cooperation to establish with the Arab side an industry and investment cooperation forum, continue to expand the China-Arab states interbank association, and implement at a faster pace the cooperation projects that are financed by the special loans in support of industrialization in the Middle East as well as by the credit line for China-Arab financial cooperation. China supports closer cooperation between financial institutions from the two sides, welcomes Arab states to issue panda bonds in China, and Arab banks to join the Cross-border Interbank Payment System.
China will continue to implement vigorously the development cooperation projects with a total worth of RMB3 billion yuan. It stands ready to accelerate the negotiations on bilateral and regional free trade agreements and advance the dialogue mechanism for e-commerce cooperation.
The Middle East is a land bestowed with broad prospects for development, but the war is still raging on it. Since last October, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated.
China firmly supports the establishment of an independent State of Palestine that enjoys full sovereignty.On top of the previous RMB100 million yuan of emergency humanitarian assistance, China will provide an additional RMB500 million yuan of assistance to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and support post-conflict.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi urged the international community to support a ceasefire in Sudan, and Gaza to prevent the displacement of Sudanese and Palestinians.
At the meeting, El-Sisi delivered a speech focusing on forging closer cooperation between China and Arab states in light of international developments.
He also highlighted the regional situation, primarily the wars in Sudan and Gaza, calling for an immediate and urgent ceasefire, and the delivery of humanitarian aid and relief to the enclave.
