Global implications

ARAB HOSPITALITY: Wang Chen, Minister of the Information Office of China's State Council, attends the opening ceremony of the Second China-Arab Press Cooperation Forum on May 6 in Manama, Bahrain, along with Bahrain's Minister of Culture and Information Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa [(second right, front) (WANG BO)]

Sheng Bin, a professor with Tianjin-based Nankai University, told Xinhua News Agency that strengthened Sino-Arab ties are in line with China's policy of conducting "all-round diplomacy."

The upgrading of Sino-Arab relations will have implications not only for the long-term development of these bilateral relations, but also for the reconstruction of the international political and economic order in the aftermath of the world economic crisis.

At the Tianjin meeting, Wen called on the international community to "foster a peaceful and stable international environment," while calling for a multinational effort to fight separatism, terrorism and violence.

Wen also struck a chord in favor of financial recovery on the world stage at a time after which China helped lead the community of nations out of the world economic slump.

In the interest of continuing this positive growth, moreover, Wen noted that major economies, in particular, should shift away from patterns of low savings and high consumption. Sound economic and regulatory oversight should not, he added, be ignored in the face of risky financial speculation.

Meanwhile, Wen called on industrialized nations to fulfill their commitments to poorer countries—the ones that were hit hardest by the global financial crisis.

He also called for greater efforts to save energy and develop clean and renewable energy sources in a bid to cope with climate change.

Cooperation in energy, climate change and other non-conventional security threats are also emblematic of the importance of Sino-Arab relations, Dong said.

To this end, China and the Arab world, all part of the community of developing nations, have set similar goals in economic growth and advancing the use and technologies of alternative sources of energy.

The continued growth of Sino-Arab relations will very likely benefit the world at large in ways that have yet to be appreciated, he added. n

About the Forum

China and Arab nations declared the inauguration of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) in Cairo in January 2004. With the purpose of "strengthening dialogue and cooperation and promoting peace and development," the CASCF now consists of China and the 22 members of the League of Arab States—Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Since its establishment, the CASCF has held four ministerial meetings, the first in Cairo on September 14, 2004.

In 2006, the Second CASCF Ministerial Meeting was held in Beijing from May 31-June 1.

The Third CASCF Ministerial Meeting was held in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, from May 21-22, 2008.

(Source: www.cascf.org)