Arab officials and scholars hail China-proposed initiatives

Officials and scholars from Arab countries on Tuesday hailed a series of China-proposed initiatives, saying they boosted innovative cooperation between Arab countries and China as well as contributed to global peace and growth.

They made the remarks at an international symposium hosted by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in an online and offline manner.

Against the backdrop of severe global challenges, China has put forward a host of initiatives with global influences which are conducive to building a community with a shared future for mankind, said former Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.

He credited China's Belt and Road Initiative as a crucial platform for international cooperation, saying China placed a great focus on green, digital, innovative, and health related projects in the BRI, bring tangible benefits to countries involved in the initiative.

So far, 149 countries and 32 international organizations have signed cooperation documents on advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with China.

Sharaf also expressed appreciation to China's Global Development Initiative, saying it helped overcome impacts of the pandemic and achieve goals of sustainable development.

The GDI, putting people at the center and focusing on innovation-driven development, has been warmly welcomed by more than 100 countries and international organizations, Sharaf said, adding that he believed the proposal was bound to promote cooperation between Arab countries and China.

Covering eight major domains such as poverty alleviation and climate change, The GDI has put the development back into the international agenda and mapped out routes of development, said Zhai Jun, the representative of the Chinese government to the Middle East.

According to Zhai, Arab countries have endorsed the GDI and nations including Egypt and Saudi Arabia have joined in the Group of Friends of Global Development.

Zhai also suggested that China and Arab countries take the GDI and the BRI as the twin engines to drive common development through innovation.

Ezzat Saad, director of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, said bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including the BRI, helped promote the modernization and economic growth of Arab countries.

Noting innovation-driven development was a major reason for the great success of these mechanisms, Saad thanked China for elevating science and technology cooperation with Arab countries through multiple channels including building the technology transfer center and joint research centers.

Mustafa Safarini, former Palestinian chief envoy to Beijing, said China's initiatives such as the GDI and the Global Security Initiative demonstrated that China is a major responsible country staying committed to advancing development, and consolidating global peace and security.

Noting that, Arab countries and China always treated each other with sincerity and shared development achievements, he said cooperation in emerging fields such as the digital economy, artificial intelligence and the green economy is gaining traction and benefiting both sides.