YINCHUAN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The third China-Arab States Expo will be held in Yinchuan, capital city of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from Sept. 6 to 9.

Sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and the government of Ningxia, the event will focus on trade of commodities and services, as well as cooperation on technology, investment and tourism, said Wang Heshan, vice chairman of Ningxia, at a press conference on Friday.

It targets Arab countries and those in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Northeast Asia and Africa along the Belt and Road, Wang said. "We will make the expo an open, cooperative platform to push forward the Belt and Road Initiative."

China-Arab trade volume reached 171 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, down 15.6 percent year-on-year.

The trade and investment between Arab countries and China have scaled down in recent years due to price declines of bulk commodities, especially crude oil, said Qian Keming, Vice Commerce Minister of China.

Arab countries are now restructuring and diversifying, which fits with the spirit of the Belt and Road Initiative, Qian said.

A total of 321 deals concerning science and technology, finance, energy, agriculture, health, tourism, culture and education, were inked during the two previous events.