Big changes have taken place in the current world. The global economy has not yet recovered from the financial crisis. China and Arab states are both faced with severe challenges.

In this context, the Fourth CASCF Ministerial Meeting achieved significant results, including a long-term cooperation framework as well as practical measures.

The two sides agreed to establish a strategic partnership featuring comprehensive cooperation and common development within the framework of the CASCF.

They issued a joint declaration on the establishment of strategic cooperative relations between China and Arab states and a communiqué of the Fourth CASCF Ministerial Meeting. Before and during the meeting, a series of documents, including an action plan for 2010-12 and a memorandum on mutual translation and publication of Chinese and Arabic classics, were signed.

The documents will give guidance and guarantees for the development of Sino-Arab relations in the coming years.

The two sides will promote political mutual trust through strengthening strategic cooperation, intensifying high-level exchanges and strategic consultations, and exchanging governance and development experience.

They will continue to support each other on issues related to their respective core interests and cooperate on major international and regional affairs.

The two sides will cooperate in various fields. These include politics, economies, trade, energy, environmental protection, agriculture, culture and tourism.

China has promised to train 1,000 professionals for Arab states each year during this and the next two years. It reiterated it will continue to support the Arab Peace Initiative, and said it is willing to work together with Arab states and the international community to push for a comprehensive, just and equitable resolution of the Middle East issue.

China and Arab states have reached a consensus on extending economic and trade cooperation and expanding the scale of trade while regulating its order and optimizing its structure.

China will expand imports of non-oil products while stabilizing its trade in oil, natural gas, and products processed from them, with Arab states. Meanwhile, it will increase exports of mechanical, electrical and hi-tech products to Arab states.

Infrastructure construction cooperation will also be promoted. China supports both Chinese and Arabic enterprises' cooperation in power, railway and highway construction projects. It will further extend bilateral cooperation in financial areas and strengthen cooperation with Arab states on environmental protection and combating desertification.

On May 11, China and Qatar signed a memorandum of understanding on energy and financial cooperation. On the same day, SINOPEC SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical Company, a joint venture of the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation and the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, officially started business.

It is currently the biggest ethylene joint venture in China. The two countries altogether invested approximately $2.68 billion in the cooperative program.

Further, the Sino-Arab economic and trade forum will be held this September in Yinchuan, the capital city of west China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

It will cover five main topics: Sino-Arab investment and trade facilitation and trade development prospects; the development of a joint market access system; prospects for project contracts and labor service cooperation; tourism and cultural development; and the training of professionals for economic, trade and technological cooperation.

The economic and trade forum will become a long-term mechanism and be held every year from now on. It will serve as a platform for Chinese and Arab government officials, entrepreneurs and scholars to expand trade and economic activities.

Cultural exchanges will also be promoted. China and Arab states have signed cultural agreements and a series of action plans within the framework of these agreements.

On May 11, the General Administration of Press and Publication of China signed a memorandum on mutual translation and publication of Chinese and Arabic classics with the Secretariat of the League of Arab States.

China will establish a special committee made up of representatives from government departments as well as publishers. The committee will be responsible for the implementation of specific projects.

The two sides will launch projects to translate and publish books spanning historical and cultural classics, contemporary literature and children's books. New and classic texts will be provided for readers on both sides to strengthen communication between the two major and ancient civilizations and construct a Silk Road of modern culture.

Moreover, the second Arab arts festival will be held in Beijing and Shanghai in June.

The author is a research fellow at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences