MANAMA -- The third ministerial meeting of China-Arab cooperation Forum opened here Wednesday. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi headed Chinese delegation to attend the meeting.
Bahrain's Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Mubarak bin Hamad al-Khalifa, foreign ministers or representatives from 22 Arab countries also attended the meeting.
Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa is scheduled to join the meeting later in the day as he is currently in Doha for mediating in the Lebanon talks.
Sheikh Muhammad said the meeting is a new starting point of Arab-China cooperation and it is the common goal to set up a new partnership between Arab countries and China so as to achieve a sustainable development of bilateral ties.
"To reach the goal, we should coordinate the position of every country within the framework of the forum to make our common political, economic, cultural, social developing plans," Sheikh Muhammad said.
The cooperation between the two sides serves their mutual interests and will bring win-win outcomes, he added.
Yang said peace and sustainable development have become important parts in setting up the new China-Arab partnership.
China will continue to firmly support the just cause of the Arab people and their choices of development on their own, he said.
China proposed that the two sides should focus their cooperation on energy, investment, engineering project contract and human resource development, Yang said.
China will help to train 1,000 personnel of management and technology for Arab countries every year in the next three years, Yang said.
"We should also make efforts to set up a free trade area or economic and trade cooperation region so as to accelerate the free flow of products, capital, technology and service between the two sides," he added.
"China will join hands with Arab nations to make new contribution to consolidating and developing China-Arab friendship, " Yang said.
After the opening ceremony, delegates will take part in three closed-door sessions to address the details of their cooperation plan in the future.
Since its establishment in 2004, the China-Arab Cooperation Forum has become a platform to strengthen dialogue and mutually- beneficial cooperation between the two sides.
Yang is also expected to meet with Bahrain's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, King Hamad bin Isa al- Khalifa and hold official talks with his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khaled Bin Ahmed al-Thani on the sidelines of the two-day conference.
