Belt and Road creates new opportunities for China-Arab states cooperation

The 2017 China-Arab States Expo will be held in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, from Sept. 6 to 9, according to the Ministry of Commerce at a press conference in Beijing on June 2, the People’s Daily reports.

The biennial event, the third edition of its kind, serves as an important platform for boosting construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. As more enterprises show stronger interest in taking part in the Belt and Road projects, China-Arab States cooperation will have a bright future, experts say.

A total of 321 deals worth around US$198 billion were signed during the first two expos, covering ten areas including science and technology, finance, energy, agriculture, culture, education and tourism.

This year’s expo will focus on the building of the Belt and Road Initiative and gather delegates from more countries along the initiative, including the Arab countries. A great number of activities in commodity trade, trade in services, tech cooperation, investment cooperation and tourism cooperation will be held.

The China-Arab States International Production Capacity Cooperation Forum and Infrastructure and Production Capacity Cooperation Demonstration will also be staged to introduce and showcase economic and trade cooperation industrial parks built along the Belt and Road to help Chinese firms go global, said Wang Heshan, vice chairman of Ningxia.

China and the Arab states are important trade and economic partners to each other. China is the Arab states’ second largest trade partner, and the Arab states as a whole are China’s largest crude oil supplier, the eighth largest trading partner, a major market for overseas construction projects and an important overseas investment destination for China, according to statistics from the ministry.

In 2016, trade between the two sides hit US$171.14 billion, and the total value of newly-inked engineering project contracts reached US$40.37 billion - up more than 40 percent year-on-year.

China’s non-financial direct investment in the Arab states was US$1.15 billion, up 75 percent year-on-year.

“The Arab states are adjusting their economic structure. Their efforts can be aligned with China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the two sides have huge potential for upgrading cooperation in the future,” said Qian Keming, vice-minister of the ministry.

The Arab states have shown great interest in and actively responded to the initiative. More than 20 ministries from 13 Arab states took part in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14 and 15.

The ministry said China will continue to encourage its enterprises to invest in the Arab states, consolidate bilateral cooperation in energy, mining and petrochemical industries, and advance the cooperation in transport, telecommunication, nonferrous metals and construction materials.