China-Arab cooperation

China and Arab countries are expected to explore new ways to reinforce their growing cooperation during the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, which opens on Thursday in the Tunisian city of Hammamet. Top diplomats from China and 17 Arab countries will also seize the opportunity to discuss issues of regional and international significance.

Established in 2004 during President Hu Jintao's visit to the headquarters of the League of Arab States in Cairo, the China-Arab Cooperation Forum has become a major platform for dialogue between China and Arab states and an indispensable vehicle for spearheading bilateral interaction. The meeting in Hammamet will inject new vitality into Sino-Arab ties and help shape a cooperative model featuring mutual benefits and mutual trust.

Over the years, the forum has promoted China-Arab exchanges and cooperation in such areas as energy, trade, telecommunications, infrastructure, culture, finance and the environment. The bilateral trade volume reached $195.9 billion in 2011, which was almost double the $100 billion target set at the first forum.

Pragmatic and fruitful cooperation has made the bonds between the two sides stronger and contributed to the stability of the world's oil prices.

In January, in a bid to widen and deepen bilateral cooperation, Premier Wen Jiabao paid a visit to the Arabian Peninsula, pledging to stabilize trade in oil, natural gas and other commodities and increase Chinese imports in non-energy products and exports in high-tech products.

With the world undergoing a profound shift in the balance of power, stronger China-Arab ties will help the two sides better protect their core interests and contribute to the building of a multipolar world which is more open to dialogue and international consultation.

Given the major changes that are taking place in Asia and Africa, the two have maintained close communication and backed political solutions to conflicts and crises in the region, including the crisis unfolding in Syria. They share a common desire to build stability and peace in the region.

As the situation in Syria is drawing increasing international concern, particularly after the Houla massacre that claimed the lives of more than 100 people, Syria is likely to feature in the ministerial meeting between China and Arab countries.

It is believed both sides will continue to exert pressure on all forces in Syria to cease the violence and implement the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan.

(China Daily 05/31/2012 page8)