Arab League Chief Calls for Development of Arab-Chinese RelationsArab League Secretary General Esmat Abdel Meguid on Sunday called for development of the Arab-Chinese relations through joint institutions.Abdel Meguid told Egypt's Middle East News Agency that necessary steps will be taken to implement a resolution adopted by the league's Foreign Ministers Council on setting up an Arab-Chinese forum grouping intellectuals and senior officials from both sides. The chief of the pan-Arab forum said he will raise with the Chinese side Arab ideas on creating the forum during his planned visit to Beijing in November. Meanwhile, Mohamad el-Saket, head of the Arab League's mission in Beijing, told the news agency that Abdel Meguid will meet with officials and intellectuals during his Chinese trip to discuss the relations between Arab countries and China, and issues of mutual concern. El-Saket said all Arab countries have diplomatic relations with China and the trade volume between the two sides stood at nine billion US dollars in 1999. The two sides have also set up several joint projects in different domains, he added. Arab and Chinese leaderships are demonstrating increasing interest in rendering bilateral economic relations on a par with their distinguished political ties, el-Saket said. |
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