Chinese envoy recounts historic China-Arab ties

Manama : Reflecting on the history of exchanges between the Chinese and the Arab people, the Chinese Ambassador to Bahrain, Qi Zhenhong remarked that China is ready to connect the Belt and Road Initiative with the National Strategic Master Plan for Bahrain Outlook 2030 to help Bahrain achieve economic growth and employment expansion.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Central Asia and Southeast Asia in 2013, he raised the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (Belt and Road). 

“The Belt and Road Initiative is a way for mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. It will promote the common development and great economic integration among the nations,” Zhenhong said in a statement here yesterday. “It will bring benefit for the infrastructure construction in Arab States to create a new economic and employment increase.” 

“We will think of the overland Silk Road and the maritime spice route. Through the ancient Silk Road, the ancestors of the Chinese and Arab people took the lead in the friendly exchanges among nations in the ancient world,” he recalled. 

Speaking on Bahrain’s security, Zhenhong said: China firmly supports Bahrain’s continuous efforts in safeguarding its security, sovereignty and territorial integrity. It respects Bahrain’s development path according to its self-conditions.”

China-Arab States Cooperation Forum

“The establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in 2002 was a strategic step the two sides took for the long-term development of the China-Arab relations. During the past 14 years, the two sides have successfully transformed the forum into a platform for systematical cooperation between China and Arab States,” he explained. 

In the Sixth Ministerial Conference of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum held in Beijing in 2014, the two sides reached an important consensus on jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative. 

Meanwhile, China has actively pursued multilateral efforts on peaceful resolution of the regional conflicts in Palestine, Syria, Libya and Yemen. President Xi pledged to provide 100 million RMB (around US$18m) aids to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan to assist in solving refugee crises caused by the war in Syria, and provide a further 5m RMB (around US$800,000) humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip in Palestine. 

Economic cooperation

Due to the side-effect of low oil price, the trade between China and Arab States in 2015 decreased to US$202 billion, which plummeted by 19.2pc compared to the previous year. However, China continuously increased the crude oil imports from Arab states by 8.1pc and reached a total of 148m metric tonnes last year. The Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining (Yasref) has completed and China has successfully won the bidding of the project on Mander oilfield in UAE and the contract on construction of Kuwait Al-Zour Refinery.

Since the completion of the Sixth Ministerial Conference of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, Chinese companies have attained contracts valued over US$70bn on infrastructural construction in Arab states. 

“China has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on jointly implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative with five Arab States, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq,” Zhenhong pointed out. 

Moreover, China has set up a Joint Strategic Investment Fund of US$20bn with UAE and Qatar. 

Scholarships 

The Chinese offered 3,066 scholarships to students from Arab States in 2015 and the number of Arab students currently studying in China exceeded 14,000. China has established 11 Confucius Institutes and three Confucius Classes in nine Arab States where 36,563 students have graduated. In addition, China has provided various training programmes to 3,363 Arab professionals in the last two years. 

“Currently, both China and Arab States enter the crucial development period, and face the common mission and challenge of achieving national rejuvenation. We hope that the two sides will promote the Silk Road Spirit and take the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative as a new opportunity,” Zhenhong said. 

Dialogue and peace

Commenting on the Palestine issue, Zhenhong said China supports the Middle East peace process and the establishment of an independent State of Palestine. “China supports the Arab League and its member States’ efforts to this end.” 

“China supports the establishment of a nuclear weapon-free and firmly opposes all kinds of terrorism. China will play an important constructive role in the Middle East region and promote to properly solve the conflicts through dialogue,” Zhenhong added.