This is a promotional screen about the "China- Gulf Arab Cooperation Commission Summit" taken on the streets of Saudi Arabia Capital Riyadh on December 7. Xinhua News Agency issued a letter
At the invitation of King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia from December 7 to 10 to attend the first China-Arab Summit and the China-Gulf Arab Cooperation Commission Summit, and paid a state visit to Saudi Arabia. This shows that China-Arab cooperation is constantly deepening and practical, and has stood at a new historical starting point for friendly cooperation between the two sides. It is a milestone event in the history of China-Arab relations.
China-Arab friendship lasts forever and new
China-Saudi relations will become a model for relations between China and the Gulf Arab Cooperation Commission countries and Arab countries. Saudi Arabia is one of the most influential countries in the Middle East. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Saudi Arabia in 1990, the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries have developed comprehensively and rapidly. In 2016, President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia, and the heads of state of the two countries upgraded bilateral relations to comprehensive strategic partnership . Since then, China and Saudi Arabia have continued to deepen their political mutual trust, cooperation in various fields has continued to expand, and cooperation in various international and regional affairs has been coordinated. After six years, President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia again. The two heads of state personally signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement and agreed to hold a rotational heads of state meeting in the two countries every two years. The visit will strengthen political mutual trust and economic, trade and investment partnerships between Saudi Arabia and China, and push China and Saudi relations to a new level. Friendly cooperation between the two countries will also promote the deepening and practical cooperation between China and the Gulf Arab Cooperation Committee countries and even all Arab countries. The convening of the China-Arab Summit is of great significance. Saudi King Salman invited President Xi Jinping to conduct a state visit and attended the China-Arab Summit and the China Overseas Summit held in Saudi Arabia, which has attracted high attention from the international community and regional countries. This shows that the vast number of Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, are willing to continue to deepen mutually beneficial cooperative relations with China on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence; it confirms that the deep friendship between China and Saudi Arabia, China and the Gulf Arab Cooperation Commission countries and the vast number of Arab countries can withstand the test of history; it shows that in the turbulent Middle East, peace and development are still the common pursuit of the vast number of Arab countries; it shows that China's global development initiative, global security initiative and community with a shared future for mankind have been widely recognized in Arab countries. The vast majority of Arab countries are willing to work with China to deal with the severe challenges facing global geopolitical and economic development, abandon the trampling of hegemony and power politics on international order , and work together to establish a more fair and just new international political and economic order. By hosting the China-Arab Summit and the China Overseas Summit, China and the Gulf Arab Cooperation Committee countries, and even all Arab countries, will achieve higher levels of cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, etc.
China-Arab cooperation has achieved remarkable results
China-Arab cooperation has achieved fruitful results, and the cooperation mechanism is becoming increasingly perfect. China and Arab countries have maintained friendly exchanges for a long time, and China-Arab economies are highly complementary, and they have gained huge gains through long-term cooperation. Up to now, China has signed the "Belt and Road" cooperation document with 20 Arab countries and Arab States Alliance . In the field of trade, China has become the largest trading partner of Arab countries for many years. In 2021, China's trade volume with Arab countries reached US$330.3 billion, and increased by about 37% year-on-year. As of October 2022, China has provided a total of 340 million doses of the new crown vaccine to Arab countries. In the field of cultural exchanges, there are currently more than 230 schools in Arab countries that offer Chinese courses. China has opened 20 Confucius Institutes and 2 independent Confucius classes in 13 Arab countries. In the field of security cooperation, since 2006, China has sent about 11,000 officers and soldiers of peacekeeping to Lebanon and Sudan.
After the founding of New China, China and Arab countries have always taken care of each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns. China and Arabia have become strategic partners for comprehensive cooperation, common development and future-oriented.With the continuous deepening and strengthening of China-Arab cooperation, the need for institutionalized China-Arab cooperation has emerged. China-Arab Cooperation Forum , the "Belt and Road" initiative and the successful holding of the China-Arab Summit mark the increasingly perfected China-Arab cooperation mechanism. The China-Arab Cooperation Forum was officially launched in September 2004. The forum members include China and the 22 member states of the Arab League. The purpose is to strengthen dialogue and cooperation and promote peace and development. After 18 years of development, 17 cooperation mechanisms have been established under the framework of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, including ministerial meetings, senior officials' meetings, senior officials' strategic political dialogues, and China-Arab relations and China-Arab Civilization Dialogue Seminar. The China-Arab Cooperation Forum can be regarded as a model of the China-Arab cooperation mechanism.
Arab countries are located in the intersection of the "Belt and Road" and have historically been important participants in the Silk Road civilization and natural partners in jointly building the "Belt and Road". The Belt and Road Initiative has received positive responses from the majority of Arab countries. The two sides have a solid foundation of cooperation and extensive room for improvement in infrastructure construction, trade, energy, environmental protection and climate change, industrialization, high-tech, finance and digital economy, agriculture and cultural exchanges.
China A Summit follows the times
At present, the changes in the world, the changes in the times, and the changes in history are unfolding in unprecedented ways. The superposition of peace deficit, development deficit, security deficit and governance deficit has brought unprecedented challenges to human society, and the world is once again standing at a crossroads of history. The vast majority of Arab countries located in the Middle East have suffered from traditional security such as war and military conflict for a long time, and are deeply troubled by non-traditional security issues such as terrorism, extremism, and public health governance brought about by the new crown pneumonia epidemic. Middle East security is one of the most difficult security issues in the world. Many examples have proved that the United States' hegemony and power politics in the Middle East region has exacerbated regional turmoil.
In recent years, Arab countries have been constantly increasing their awareness of strategic autonomy and are no longer willing to act as a "chess piece" for the United States to exercise hegemony. As the United States adopts a contraction strategy in the Middle East and shifts its strategic focus to the "Indo-Pacific", the Middle East is no longer the focus of US diplomacy, and the relationship between the United States and Arab allies has cooled down. Since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, differences in policies against Russia have led to continued damage to the relationship between the United States and regional countries. For their own interests, the Gulf Arab countries responded indifferently to the United States' demand to increase oil production capacity . Arab countries’ attitudes on issues such as sanctions against Russia and oil production increase show that they are increasingly acting on national interests rather than following the United States’ lead.
The United States has also put pressure on Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE to give up cooperation with China. However, in September 2022, the 158th Council of Foreign Ministers of the League of Arab States passed the resolution of "Arab-China Relations", appreciating China's diplomatic efforts to support the Arab cause, peacefully resolve regional crises, and promote international and regional peace and security. It reiterated that Arab countries support the one-China principle and emphasized its willingness to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields under the "Belt and Road" initiative. This fully reflects the firm determination of Arab countries to develop relations with China, and also reflects China's deep traditional friendship and strong strategic partnership with Arab countries.
The convening of the China-Arab Summit is the call of the times, which meets the needs of China-Arab bilaterally, and will further build consensus between the two sides on major issues such as global governance, peace and development, civilized exchanges, and international and regional hot issues. China and Arab countries will strengthen cooperation and promote the quality and upgrading of China-Arab relations. The summit will surely become an epoch-making monument in the history of China-Arab relations, marking the renewed vitality of China-Arab friendly relations and opening up broader prospects for China-Arab strategic partnership.
(Author: Tong Fei, Director of the Security Research Office of the Institute of West Asia and Africa, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
