On the morning of June 15, the 26th seminar for Arab officials (Bahrain session), organized by the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development (hereinafter referred to as “the Center”), successfully concluded. Li Yansong, Executive President of the Center and President of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), attended the closing ceremony.
The event was hosted by Wang Guangda, Secretary-General of the Center. Representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Bahrain, the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development, the School of International Finance and Trade, and other institutions were also present.
In his speech at the closing ceremony, Li Yansong, on behalf of SISU and the Center, extended warm congratulations to the Bahraini participants on the successful completion of the week-long seminar. He noted that this seminar focused on high-quality development in the financial sector and high-tech industries. Through expert discussions and field visits, the participants deepened their understanding of Chinese modernization and gained new insights into China’s democratic political practices.
Bader Saad, Director of the Registration Directorate at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Bahrain, delivered remarks on behalf of the participants. He stated that the seminar had provided a valuable platform for gaining firsthand knowledge of China’s advanced experience in development planning and technological innovation. He emphasized that on the occasion of the first anniversary of His Majesty King Hamad’s historic state visit to China, Bahrain places great importance on its comprehensive strategic partnership with China. He warmly welcomed more Chinese enterprises to invest and operate in Bahrain and expressed hope to deepen cooperation in technology, finance, and innovation to jointly create a future of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
Li Yansong and Professor Zhang Yugui presented graduation certificates to the seminar participants and gifted them commemorative books, followed by a group photo session.
In the academic exchange sessions, Professor Zhang Yugui, Chairman of the Academic Committee of the School of International Finance and Trade at SISU, gave a lecture on the restructuring of the global manufacturing landscape and the high-quality development of China’s manufacturing sector, enhancing the participants’ understanding of China's strategic development path. Shuai Shi, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Financial Industry Federation and General Manager of the Financial Institutions Department of the Bank of Communications, shared Shanghai's experience in building an international financial center, allowing participants to gain a deeper sense of China's progress in high-quality financial development. Professor Wang Guangda, Secretary-General of the Center, gave a thematic lecture on Chinese-style modernization and China-Arab cooperation in exploring modernization paths, offering participants valuable insights into China's development model.
In terms of site visits, participants joined the Approaching the National People’s Congress program, visited the Site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China to witness China’s democratic practices in action, and strengthened their understanding of China’s development path and institutional system. Centered on topics such as economic development and technological innovation, they also visited SPD Bank, the Yangtze River Delta G60 Sci-Tech Innovation Corridor, and ZhiYuan Robotics. In Hangzhou, they visited GAOZHI General Aviation to observe how cutting-edge technologies are driving China’s rapid economic development.
Through these activities, participants were able to experience China’s democratic political practices, understand the country’s development trajectory, observe the high-quality development of the financial industry, learn about regional coordination strategies, witness the frontier of high-tech innovation, explore new productive forces in low-altitude aviation, and gain deeper insights into the China-Arab trade ecosystem.
The successful completion of the 26th seminar for Arab officials (Bahrain session) has not only provided Bahraini officials with an important window into China’s modernization practices but has also injected fresh momentum into the development of the China-Bahrain comprehensive strategic partnership. Looking ahead, both sides are expected to further deepen pragmatic cooperation in areas such as fintech, the digital economy, and industrial upgrading, jointly writing a new chapter of mutual benefit under the Belt and Road framework and contributing to the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future.