Global Development Initiative fosters China-Arab cooperation

On November 30, 2021, with the support of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development held the 2021 China-Arab States Reform and Development Experts Video Conference, under the theme of "jointly building a China-Arab community with a shared future under the guidance of the Global Development Initiative".

More than 20 experts and scholars from China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Palestine and other countries attended this conference.

In his keynote speech, Li Chengwen, Chinese ambassador for the Affairs of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, said the Global Development Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping conforms to the theme of peace and development and echoes with people's strong aspirations for a better life around the world.

Under the guidance of the initiative, China and Arab countries should jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative with high quality, further enhance people-to-people exchanges, expand practical cooperation, get intensive preparations underway for the first China-Arab States Summit and work together to build a China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era.

Mahmoud Allred, former Egyptian ambassador to China, pointed out Egypt will continue to learn from China's successful experience and maintain a good partnership with China with the aim of achieving the common goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Li Weijian, vice president of the Chinese Association of Middle East Studies and researcher at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said in the context of the transformation of the international order, the Global Development Initiative will help deepen cooperation and provide a successful framework for global stability and development.

Sayed Ghoneim, chairman of the Institute for Global Security and Defense Affairs in Abu Dhabi, said China should enhance the global publicity of the Belt and Road Initiative and the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, which makes the world have a better understanding of Chinese wisdom.

Ma Lirong, director of the Institute of Silk Road Strategy Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, said the potential of multilateral cooperation should be explored by deepening the joint construction of the Healthy Silk Road, innovating the construction of the Green Silk Road between China and Arab countries and exploring the building of the China-Arab academic community, so as to build a prosperous China-Arab community with a shared future.

Chinese and Arab experts agreed it is significant for Arab countries to cope with challenges, achieve balanced development and create a better future. They also said the Global Development Initiative provides beneficial references for the development of all countries.

Chinese and Arab experts said they believe in the face of increasingly severe global challenges, China-Arab cooperation has shown a strong development momentum with vigorous vitality. They advocated China and Arab countries synergize their development strategies, jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative with high quality and provide the impetus for building the China-Arab community with a shared future.