On June 10, 2018, the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development(CARC) and the China Foundation for International Studies jointly hosted the China-Arab Friendship Cooperation and Development Prospects - 'China-Arab Cooperation Forum' Achievements and Prospects” seminar at the International Education Center of SISU Songjiang Campus to coordinate with the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum held in Beijing during the year, reviewing and prospecting the achievements and development prospects of the Forum since its establishment, and promoting various fields in Sino-Arab friendly exchanges and cooperation.
Li Yansong, President of SISU; Yang Fuchang, Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Shen Guofang, Executive Director of the China Foundation for International Studies; Li Chengwen, Ambassador of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs；Xiao Zhengjun, Deputy Director of the West Asia and North Africa Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Abdullah Saadi, Head of the Arab States Embassy in China and Ambassador of Oman to China; Rashid Kamz, the Consul General of the United Arab Emirates in Shanghai; An Huihou, Former Director of the Asian and African Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Former Ambassador to five countries including Algeria, Tunisia, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt; Wu Sike, Former China Special Envoy for the Middle East, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Egypt; Wang Shijie, Former China Special Envoy for the Middle East; Liu Baolai, Former Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Jordan; Yao Kuangyi, Former Ambassador to Turkey; Liu Zhentang, Former Ambassador to Lebanon and Iran; Luo Xingwu, Former Ambassador to Libya and Jordan; Deng Shaoqin, Former Ambassador to Sudan and Oman; Yang Honglin, Former Ambassador to Bahrain, Iraq and Saudi Arabia; Gao Youzhen, Former Ambassador to Qatar and many other former ambassadors. Zhou Cheng, Vice President of SISU; Zhu Weilie, Honorary Director of Institute of Middle East Studies of SISU and more than 40 people in total from other relevant units and institutions attended the meeting.
At the opening ceremony, Li Yansong, President of SISU; Shen Guofang, Executive Director of the China Foundation for International Studies; Abdullah Saadi, Chairman of the Arab State Mission in China and Oman Ambassador to China; Li Chengwen, Ambassador of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivered a speech respectively. President Li Yansong first welcomed the arrival of the guests. He pointed out that the important concept of building a new type of international relations and building a community of human destiny which has been put forward in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has won wider and wider recognition and support from the international community. SISU actively implements the principles and policies of the party and the state, strives for China-Arab mutual respect, fairness, justice, cooperation and win-win friendship, and has made outstanding achievements in the cultural exchanges between China and Arab countries. CARC has created conditions for China and Arab countries to exchange experience in governance of the country, reform and development, to make efforts to promote China-Arab friendly cooperation and common prosperity. In his speech, Shen Guofang, affirmed the achievements that China-Arab States Cooperation Forum has made in promoting China-Arab collective dialogue and pragmatic cooperation since its establishment, and believed that it should be based on reality and seize the opportunity to address regional hot issues, adhere to the general direction of promoting and persuading the talks, we must try to solve the Middle East issues from the perspective of development with a creative way of thinking, we must achieve more new achievements through the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative, and build a new platform for dialogue and cooperation through exchanges between think tanks, and also expressed that the China Foundation for International Studies is willing to further strengthen cooperation with CARC.
At the same time, the seminar was held for the conference of building a ‘Belt and Road’ and promoting a new starting point for the collective cooperation of China and Arab countries - the ‘China-Arab Cooperation Forum Achievements and Prospects’”. Ding Jun, professor at the Middle East Institute of SISU and a member of the Shanghai CPPCC National Committee, made a report. The report separately discussed the diplomatic and political mutual trust between the Chinese and Arab leaders, the Belt and Road between China and Arab countries, China-Arab economic and trade cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and social development cooperation. The important achievements in the fields of peace and security cooperation are summed up and briefly analyzed. It is believed that the collective cooperation between China and Arab countries in the new era is committed to the spirit of the Silk Road of “peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit. Implementing the concept of “co-construction and sharing”, both sides will work together to solve the development problems, promote governance in the Middle East, and demonstrate to the international community the great wisdom of “communicating for understanding” and “communicating for harmony” with different civilizations, exploring new paths and creating new models for international cooperation and exchanges, the transformation of the global governance system, building of a community of human destiny.
The seminar topics included the achievements of collective cooperation between China and Arab countries, the opportunities and challenges faced by the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, the “Belt and Road” initiative between China and Arab countries, and the exchanges and cooperation between China and Arab people. The experts and scholars presented their opinions on different topics. Among them, Yang Fuchang, Former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in his speech that the development of investment and capacity cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and Arab countries is in line with the principle of Five Links in trade, capital and people-to-people exchanges proposed in the Belt and Road initiative. Sino-Arab relationship has a consistent orientation and will continue to develop in economic cooperation,.
CARC is jointly hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and the Shanghai Municipal Government, undertook by SISU. Its goal is to further strengthen the exchange of experience between China and Arab countries in governance of the country, reform and development, and to promote China-Arab friendship and cooperation. Since its establishment more than a year ago, the center has successfully held four seminars to train more than 110 senior and middle-level officials from Arab countries. The center will use all kinds of advantageous resources at home and abroad, innovate organizational forms, reform management methods, and strive to build a first-class international think tank training base, excellent talent gathering base and high-end international exchange and cooperation platform combining foreign publicity and capital.