Xi pledges industrial boost for Middle East

President, speaking to Arab League, promises assistance including $15b in loans for region

President Xi Jinping stressed the need to "advance industrialization in the Middle East", a statement backed up with pledges of billions of dollars in loans and investments to help make that happen, in a speech to the Arab League at its headquarters in Cairo on Thursday afternoon.

"China's competitive production capacity and the human resources in the Middle East, when combined, will deliver more and better job opportunities for the region," said Xi, who is on a three-nation trip to the Middle East. Xi left Egypt on Friday for Iran, the third and last stop on his visit.