简体中文
China's cooperation with other nations in the fight against the raging COVID-19 pandemic and its unbiased stances on global issues have harvested praises from the Arab world, while the two sides are mulling stronger ties in the post-pandemic era.
A three-day dialogue between political parties of China and Arab states kicked off on Monday via video link, with a theme of jointly building a community with a shared future for China and Arab states in the new era.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Monday sent a congratulatory letter to the China-Arab States Political Parties Dialogue Extraordinary Meeting, which is attended by over 60 leaders of political parties from Arab states.
Nasser Bouchiba, president of the Africa-China Cooperation Association for Development in Morocco, said the hosting of the dialogue will build a platform for exchanges between the Arab countries' political parties and the CPC, and enhance the exchanges and cooperation between China and the Arab world.
China's development experience and ideas are worth learning for Arab countries, Bouchiba said, adding that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has created a platform to promote the development of Arab countries.
He appreciates the fact that China has always remained neutral on issues in the Middle East and is committed to preserving peace in the region with continuous calls for peaceful settlement of disputes through political means.
The conference indicates that China is cementing the idea of a shared future with Arab states and the principle of win-win cooperation, Bouchiba said.
In addition, the cultural side of the BRI will be increasingly present, as more presence of the Chinese culture will be seen in the Arab world through the initiative, he said.
Samer Khair Ahmed, a Jordanian expert on Arab-China relations, said the international community has witnessed China's assistance to the Arab world and other countries without hesitation in curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
"China is a trustworthy country with precaution experience sharing with and medical equipment offering to the world," he said.
Attending the dialogue, Abbas Zaki, head of Palestinian Fatah party's commissioner general of the Arab and Chinese Affairs, said the novel coronavirus has proven to the Arab world that China cherishes humanity.
"More Arab countries are regarding China as a friend and improving their relations with it because China's relations with the Arab world depend on mutual benefits," Zaki said.
Noting that China has sent medical equipment, medicine and medical experts to many parts of the world, including Arab countries, he said that as Palestinians, "we have been following the Chinese preventive measure to avoid the virus."
Nadhum Ali Abdullah, an Iraqi political expert with Baghdad-based think tank Arab Forum, said that ties between China and the Arab world are built on mutual understanding in the economic, political and cultural aspects.
China's policy towards the Arab countries is clear and free from ambitions, "unlike the Western policy that aims to achieve its own interests even against the interests of other peoples," Ali Abdullah stressed.
He said that China has proven to be "the best aid to its friends" in the difficult circumstances through its cooperation with other countries amid the pandemic.
Nasr Arif, former executive director of the Institute for Islamic World Studies of Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, said China and Arab countries can do a lot facing COVID-19, for example, to push for scientific research of medicine and vaccines.
Praising the vision of building a community with a shared future for China and Arab countries as "a great idea," Arif said that as Arab countries are facing many challenges, "China can bring new approaches to some regional and international issues by establishing a comprehensive partnership with Arab countries that will benefit two sides."
(Xinhua reporters Li Binian in Cairo, Xiong Sihao in Gaza, Zheng Yihan in Damascus, Zhang Miao in Baghdad, Ma Yichong in Khartoum, Chen Binjie in Rabat, Su Xiaopo in Dubai, and Ji Ze in Amman also contributed to the story.)
