On April 23, 2018, the China-Arab Reform and Development Forum was held in Beijing by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the basis of the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development (CARC). The opening ceremony of the forum was presided over by Deng Li, Director of the Asian and African Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Chen Xiaodong, Assistant Foreign Minister;Sharif, Former Prime Minister of Egypt; Fatah, former Sudanese Speaker; Yang Fuchang, former Deputy Foreign Minister; Zong Ming, Deputy Secretary of Shanghai Municipal Government; Li Chengwen, Ambassador of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Jiang Feng, Secretary of SISU; Li Yansong, President of SISU, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.
Chen Xiaodong said that the revelation of China's 40 years of reform and opening up has similarities with the reality in the Middle East. For example, independently exploring the path of development and reform, handling the relationship between reform, development and stability, and focusing on principle of people-oriented, etc. China and Arab countries are perfect partners on a new journey of reform and development who make progress together in mutual exchanges, and accelerate development in complementarity. The process of reform and development of China and Arab countries should strengthen the docking under the framework of the “Belt and Road initiative and jointly strive for a stable and favorable reform and development environment; deepen exchanges and mutual understanding; support each other's road exploration; join the reform and development strategy, and explore more cooperation growth points. We will boost the reform of the people's livelihood and enhance the industrial development and employment growth at the same time. We will jointly support the free trade policies, improve reciprocal arrangements in the open, share development dividends, and work together to promote greater development of China-Arab strategic partnership in the new era.
In his speech, former Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif agreed with the “Belt and Road initiative and believed that the Belt and Road and the ancient Silk Road would continue to promote economic and trade exchanges and enhance civilized exchanges. He pointed out that common development is the biggest consensus, to achieve this goal, we must spare no effort to engage in dialogue on the common basic concepts. Former Sudanese Speaker Fatah pointed out that the “Belt and Road” initiative is China’s largest international cooperation initiative in the world, aiming to broaden the interaction between Asian, African and European countries and provide a time-critical plan while emphasizing the development of the country and the development of international cooperation must rely on the thinking style, principles, inheritance and history of each country. It is precisely because of this kind of foundation that China has achieved leap-forward development.
Zong Ming, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government, mentioned that since the establishment of CARC, it has provided a new opportunity for the people-to-people exchanges between China and Arab countries. It has been highly valued by the municipal government. Shanghai is a bridgehead for the “Belt and Road” initiative and has a deep cooperation with the Arab countries in the fields of trade, culture and education. Zong Ming promised that Shanghai government will fully support SISU to further undertake CARC, providing strong guarantees in terms of policies, funds, and talents, promoting the center to better play the role of bridges and bonds, and make new contributions to China-Arab cooperation and exchanges.
Li Yansong, President of SISU, said that since the establishment of the university, SISU has been focusing on cultivating outstanding international talents with profound Chinese and foreign cultural backgrounds and outstanding cross-cultural competence. Under the guidance of the concept of “interpreting the world and achieving the future”, SISU has played an essential role in the progress of people-to-people exchanges between China and Arab Countries. As the organizer of CARC, SISU provided a favorable development environment for the center with a high-level international communication capabilities. It is hoped that through this forum, China and Arab countries would strengthen their governance of country and development experience, exchange and deepen understanding of the “Belt and Road” initiative.
After the closing ceremony, former politicians, government officials, experts and scholars from more than 10 countries including China, Egypt, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia exchanged views deeply on three issues including communicating the country's political experience and achieving common prosperity and development; the Chinese concept and the Arab development path; “ promoting the construction of China-Arab's ‘Belt and Road’ in a new open pattern”. Wu Sike, Former Middle East Special Envoy; Liu Baolai, Former Ambassador to UAE and Jordan; Liu Genfa, Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Exchange and Training Development of Pudong Cadre College; Zhu Weilie, Director of the Shanghai Institute of Middle East Studies; Gu Zhenglong, Senior Minister of Xinhua News Agency; Mohamed Hijazi, Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt; Mahmoud Daoud, President of the Iraqi Think Tank Wisdom Palace; Anwar Shalian, Assistant Professor of Department of Economics of University, attended the forum. The two sides made speeches and discussions on different topics.
