China, Arabic Countries Call for Expanded InvestmentChinese and Arabic foreign trade officials and entrepreneurs Sunday called for more efforts to tap the huge potential in trade and investment between their countries.Addressing a seminar on two-way investment between China and Arabic countries, Wu Donghe, a senior official with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressed the broad prospects for economic cooperation between China and Arabic countries. Officials and entrepreneurs from Egypt, Oman and Sudan and a dozen Arabic countries told the seminar that China has the technology and resources to expand its cooperation with their countries in oil and other mineral resources prospecting, mining and utilization, agricultural development, and the industries of textile, machinery and electronics and service. Their Chinese counterparts said Arabic countries may give priority to China when selecting suppliers of products for oil mining, infrastructure projects and machinery. Trade between China and Arabic countries reached 15.2 billion U. S. dollars in 2000 from 1.68 billion U.S. dollars in 1990, and oil imports from Arabic countries accounted for half of China's total oil imports. But the volume of investment between China and Arabic countries by 2000 was only 300 million U.S. dollars, said Wu Donghe at the seminar held by the Chinese government. |
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