Interview: China-Arab ties reach unprecedented level, says Egyptian ex-ambassador

CAIRO, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The ties between China and the Arab world have reached an unprecedented level thanks to the collaboration under the umbrella of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum over the past two decades, a former Egyptian ambassador to China told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"If we compare Arab-Chinese relations in 2004 and 20 years later, we find that the difference is very vast. Of course, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) also contributed to this growth," said Magdy Amer, also a former deputy foreign minister of Egypt.

His remarks came a few days before the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, which is set to be held in Beijing on Thursday.

Since the establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in 2004, there has been tremendous growth in trade, investment, tourism and direct flights between the two sides, Amer said.

China has been the largest trading partner of Arab countries for years. The volume of trade between the two sides reached 398 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, compared to 36.7 billion dollars in 2004, according to data released by China's Foreign Ministry.

"The forum was initially a political decision by both parties, based on which all commercial, economic, cultural, tourism and other relations have improved," said the former Egyptian ambassador, hailing the fact that the forum has put Arab-China relations on the right path.

In December 2022 at the first China-Arab States Summit in Riyadh, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for fostering a closer China-Arab community with a shared future.

The proposal "was based on the principles of peace and development, which are the highest goals of China and the Arab countries," the Egyptian veteran diplomat said.

The BRI proposed by China in 2013 also "gave a very great impetus to cooperation between Arab countries and China" and significantly contributed to promoting China-Arab ties, Amer added, citing the Central Business District project of Egypt's New Administrative Capital and the Alamein Downtown Towers Project in New Alamein as examples.

"The establishment of the forum in 2004 and then the launch of the BRI in 2013 were the two key factors that together promoted Arab-Chinese relations to a completely different level," the former Egyptian deputy foreign minister told Xinhua.