China is going to have a mega meeting with Arab countries, know how far this mission that started 20 years ago has reached

 

A mega meeting is going to take place between China and Arab countries. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Sunday that Chinese President Xi Jinping is going to hold the 10th Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum . This meeting will be held on May 30 in the Chinese capital Beijing.

The meeting will be attended by Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Tunisian President Kais Saied and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, will co-chair the meeting with Mohamed Salem Ould Merzouk, Foreign Minister of the African country Mauritania.

The conference began 20 years ago

This mission between China and Arab countries will complete 20 years this year. This mission started in the year 2004 with the aim of strengthening relations between China and Arab countries. After which the mission progressed year after year and became a means of strong relations, development, international cooperation, business between China and Arab countries. In the year 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the first China-Arab States Summit with the leaders of Arab states in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia and prepared a blueprint for the development of relations.

Sino-Arab relations are in their best times

Earlier this month, Xi Jinping sent a message to the 33rd Arab League summit being held in Bahrain, saying that “China-Arab relations are currently at their best time”, and expressed hope that the two countries will work to deepen cooperation at the 10th mega meeting to further benefit each other in the region.

The advancement of the mission

International relations between China and Arab states are quite good. Li Shaoxian, director of the China-Arab Research Institute at Ningxia University, said, "The China-Arab meeting has become a major engine pushing forward political and diplomatic relations and China-Arab cooperation." This forum, which has been running for 20 years, has promoted cooperation and trade between these countries. Last year, China signed bilateral cooperation documents on the construction of the Belt and Road with all 22 Arab states. Li said, "The Belt and Road has become a path of development for China and all these countries." The Belt and Road is a plan to develop two new trade routes connecting China to the whole world.

Trade increased between China and Arab countries

Trade between China and Arab countries has also grown steadily. Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chang Hua recently said that China-Arab trade has increased significantly in these 20 years. China-Arab trade has increased 10 times. Trade between these countries has increased from $36.7 billion in 2004 to $398.1 billion in 2023.

Steps were also taken towards promoting culture

Not only business, but countries are also moving towards adopting each other's culture. President Xi opened 100 Chinese language schools in the United Arab Emirates to promote the Chinese language. The aim of this project is that the students there also learn the Chinese language, understand the Chinese culture as well as promote bilateral friendship.

Currently, there are 171 Chinese language schools in the UAE and 71,000 students are learning the Chinese language. A language program was launched in 2019 following a meeting between President Xi Jinping and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.