China voices support for Arab nations' unity, development: premier

CAIRO -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here on Wednesday that China supports Arab countries in strengthening strategic autonomy, enhancing unity and self-reliance, and pursuing development paths suited to their own national conditions.

During his meeting with Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Li said that China has always viewed and developed its relations with Arab nations from a strategic perspective and firmly supports their just cause.

Noting that China and Arab countries are trustworthy friends and good partners, Li said that at present, under the strategic guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the leaders of Arab countries, China-Arab relations have entered their best period in history.

China is willing to strengthen friendly ties with the AL, enhance strategic mutual trust with Arab countries, deepen cooperation across various fields, work together to advance modernization, and build a higher-level China-Arab community with a shared future, he said.

Li said that China is ready to further align its development strategies with Arab countries and proceed with their high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

He called on the two sides to expand cooperation in energy, economy and trade, investment and financing, as well as aerospace and other fields, and explore cooperation potential in emerging fields such as new energy, artificial intelligence, digital economy and blue economy.

The Chinese side is also ready to work with Arab countries to promote the coordinated development of landmark flagship projects and "small but beautiful" projects to better benefit the people of both sides.

Both sides, Li said, should enhance dialogue among civilizations and people-to-people exchanges, deepen cooperation among youth, think tanks, universities, as well as in culture and tourism, and explore the implementation of more measures to facilitate personnel exchanges, so as to boost people-to-people bonds.

The Chinese side is ready to enhance communication and coordination with Arab countries on platforms such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the World Trade Organization and the Group of 20, demonstrate the common will and speak in a common voice, so as to promote a more just and equitable global governance system, Li said.

Li also expressed his hope that the AL will continue to play an important role in advancing the development of China-Arab relations and jointly ensure the second China-Arab States Summit next year a success.

For his part, Aboul-Gheit said China is a good friend and good partner of Arab countries, adding that Arab-China relations enjoy a good momentum of development and practical cooperation has achieved fruitful results.

He said the Arab side firmly supports the one-China principle, as well as the Belt and Road Initiative and the three global initiatives proposed by President Xi.

Congratulating China on its remarkable development achievements, Aboul-Gheit said the Arab side is grateful for China's support for the economic and social development of Arab states, and stands ready to work with China to deepen political mutual trust, firmly support each other, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in such aras as trade, investment and people-to-people ties under the framework of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum.

The Arab side stands ready to work with China to continue to implement the outcomes of the first China-Arab States Summit and to jointly make the second summit a success, he said.

Aboul-Gheit said the Arab side highly appreciates China's consistent support for Arab states on multilateral platforms such as the United Nations and is willing to strengthen multilateral coordination with China to jointly safeguard multilateralism and promote world peace and development.