China proposes 'five cooperation frameworks' to advance ties with Arab states

On June 25, 2023, two China-funded prototype satellites of the MisrSat II satellite project were delivered to the Egyptian side, making Egypt the first African country with the capacity to assemble, integrate and test satellites.

The project marked a landmark outcome of jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative between China and Arab countries.

"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," Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday in Beijing.

He made the remarks while delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 10th ministerial conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum.

'Five cooperation frameworks'

Xi proposed the "five cooperation frameworks" during the ceremony to step up the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future.

China will build with the Arab side a joint space debris observation center, a BeiDou application and a cooperation and development center and step up cooperation in manned space mission and passenger aircraft in efforts to boost innovation cooperation.

Xi called for enhancing cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) to empower the real economy and promote a global governance system on AI.

To promote economic and trade ties, China will accelerate the negotiations on bilateral and regional free trade agreements and advance the dialogue mechanism for e-commerce cooperation, he said.

China has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with all 22 Arab countries and the League of Arab States, under which more than 200 major projects have been implemented, benefiting nearly two billion people on both sides.

Xi said China will also work with the Arab side in the spirit of inclusiveness and mutual learning to advance people-to-people exchanges.

Cultural exchanges between China and Arab states have been flourishing, with increasingly deepened cooperation in language learning and education.

More Chinese students are coming to Arab countries to learn the language and culture. Meanwhile, six Arab states, namely the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia and Djibouti, have officially incorporated Chinese language courses into their national education systems.

Additional $69 million assistance for Gaza

In his speech, Xi reiterated that China supports Palestine's full membership in the United Nations (UN) and supports a more broad-based, authoritative and effective international peace conference.

In addition to the previous 100 million yuan (about $13.8 million) of emergency humanitarian assistance, Xi announced providing an additional 500 million yuan ($69 million) in assistance to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and support post-conflict reconstruction.

China will also donate $3 million to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in support of its emergency humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

China mediated the historic reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran and has been making diplomatic efforts to facilitate peace and stability among Arab states. 

At the invitation of China, representatives of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) had come to Beijing for talks on promoting intra-Palestinian reconciliation and achieved positive progress, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on April 30.

"As an Arab saying goes, friends are the sunshine in life. We will continue to work with our Arab friends to carry forward the spirit of China-Arab friendship, build together a better future and make the road sunny toward a China-Arab community with a shared future," Xi said on Thursday.