Good friends, good partners, and good brothers! Digital witness that China-Arab cooperation has achieved leapfrog development in 20 years
News: From the influx of business travelers along the Silk Road, to the comprehensive establishment of diplomatic relations between the two sides in the last century, to the opening of an era of overall cooperation between China and Arab countries in the new century... Across mountains and seas, and throughout ancient and modern times, China and Arab countries continue to write new chapters of friendly cooperation. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. Over the past 20 years, the strategic mutual trust between the two sides has continued to deepen and achieved leapfrog development.
Mutual support is a distinctive feature of China-Afghanistan friendship. On issues involving each other's core interests, the two sides firmly support each other. Arab countries have always adhered to the one-China principle and pursued the one-China policy. The Council of Foreign Ministers of the Arab League has adopted China-related friendship resolutions for 44 consecutive times. China has facilitated the resumption of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, supported Syria's return to the Arab League, and firmly supported Arab countries in strengthening strategic independence and achieving unity and self-strength.
Support each other in mutual trust and win-win cooperation in mutual benefit. China has signed cooperation documents on the Belt and Road Initiative with all 22 Arab countries and the Arab League, and has implemented more than 200 large-scale projects under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The results of cooperation have benefited nearly 2 billion people on both sides. China has been the largest trading partner of Arab countries for many years in a row.
According to customs statistics, in the past 20 years, my country's imports and exports to the Arab League have increased significantly by 820.9% from 303.81 billion yuan in 2004 to 2.8 trillion yuan in 2023. In the first four months of this year, my country's imports and exports to the Arab League were 946.17 billion yuan, a record high for the same period in history, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%, accounting for 6.9% of my country's total foreign trade value.
China and Arab countries are also at the forefront of the world in mutual learning between civilizations. The Arab League is the first regional organization in the world to jointly publish a document on the implementation of global civilization initiatives with China. China has cooperated with 13 Arab countries to build 21 Confucius Institutes and 2 Confucius Classrooms. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, and Djibouti have officially incorporated Chinese education into their national education systems.
In recent years, China-Arab cooperation in the satellite field has flourished. Several China-Arab Beidou Cooperation Forums have been successfully held. The China-Arab Beidou cooperation mechanism has been continuously consolidated and cooperation has achieved practical results. In Tunisia, China's Beidou Satellite Navigation System's first overseas center, the China-Arab Beidou Center, was established locally; in Kuwait, the Beidou system assisted in the construction of the 300-meter-high National Bank of Kuwait headquarters building; in Lebanon, Beidou high-precision technology was applied to the Beirut Port Terminal Construction survey... Experts believe that China's aerospace satellite technology represented by Beidou has important leading and demonstration significance in helping Arab countries achieve self-reliance in science and technology and develop their own advanced technologies.