China-Arab States Cooperation Forum: Ministers gather in Beijing to map out future plans

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02:24

Ministers from China and the Arab region have gathered in Beijing to map out potential areas for future cooperation. They signed three official documents which pave the way for future joint-projects, including one which outlines their understanding on China's massive international development project, the Belt & Road Initiative. CGTN's Rory Coen has more.

"Geographically centered on the routes of the Belt and Road, Arab countries are China's natural partners in advancing the initiative." This was the key message from Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the opening ceremony of the 8th Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum on Tuesday morning.

Soon after the initiative was conceived in 2013, President Xi encouraged the countries of the Arab region to participate.

Four years on, and the three documents which were signed today--namely the Beijing Declaration; the Joint Declaration of Action on Building the Belt and Road Initiative; as well as an Action Plan for 2018-2020 -- show how far their relations have advanced in such a short period of time.

Meanwhile, President Xi recognised the region's strategic location between Asia and Africa, and said Beijing would help the Arab states better connect the two giant continents.

XI JINPING CHINESE PRESIDENT "China welcomes opportunities to participate in the development of ports and the construction of railway networks in Arab states. China also supports the efforts of Arab states in building a logistics network connecting central Asia with East Africa and the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean."

ADEL BIN AHMED AL-JUBEIR SAUDI ARABIAN FOREIGN MINISTER "We expect to be a strong partner of China, to push forward the Belt and Road Initiative, and reach common prosperity and development."

China and the Arab states account for a quarter of the world's population, one-sixth of its land mass and about one-eighth of its economy.

Taking on board the principles of fairness and justice, the two sides also agreed to elevate their relationship to what's known as a "strategic partnership".

With that in mind, China pledged to provide Arab states with a 20-billion dollar loan, with the hope it would strengthen their cooperation in areas such as energy, finance and high-tech, as well as people-to-people exchanges. Rory Coen, CGTN.