The 7th China-Arab National Expo (China-Arab Expo) with the theme of "Innovation, Greenness and Prosperity" was held in Yinchuan, Ningxia from August 28 to 31. Focusing on promoting China-Arab trade and investment cooperation, the China-Arab Expo has become an important platform for both sides to strengthen common development.

International observers pointed out that in the context of the current global economic downturn and intensified protectionism, China-Arab economic and trade cooperation has shown resilience and vitality to advance steadily, innovate, enterprising and mutually beneficial and win-win, and has become an important force in promoting the process of economic globalization and promoting world economic growth.

On June 20, 2023, PetroChina Chairman Dai Houliang (left) attended the signing ceremony in Doha with the Minister of State for Energy and the President and CEO of Qatar Energy. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Qatar Energy Company signed a cooperation document for the expansion project of the Northern Gas Field in Doha, the capital of Qatar on June 20. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Niku)

Steadily advance and consolidate the foundation of cooperation

The report on "Review and Outlook on China-Arab Energy Cooperation" shows that China-Arab energy trade continues to grow, and energy trade accounts for half of the total bilateral trade volume in 2022. Qatar is China's second largest supplier of liquefied natural gas. In 2023, Qatar Energy Company signed a 27-year long-term purchase and sales agreement and shareholding agreement with PetroChina and Sinopec respectively. Saad Kabi, president and CEO of Qatar Energy, said China is a key market for Qatar energy products.

China's technology and capabilities in liquefied natural gas ship construction and energy infrastructure construction have been recognized by regional countries, and Chinese companies have continuously won bids for related projects. Qatar Energy Company has signed a long-term transportation lease for large transport ships with Chinese companies. This in-depth cooperation not only ensures supply, but also improves technological exchanges and industrial collaboration.

The China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (TEDA Cooperation Zone) was founded in 2008. In recent years, it has continuously attracted enterprises to settle in and projects to be implemented, and has gradually become a demonstration project to connect the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative and Egypt's "Suez Canal Corridor Economic Belt". Former Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Serav highly praised the TEDA Cooperation Zone and believed that such economic and trade cooperation zones are "the key to industry, trade and global connectivity." The expansion of the cooperation zone is progressing steadily. Relevant partners recently signed an agreement that the total area of ​​the cooperation zone will exceed 10 square kilometers, further promoting Egypt's industrial development.

This is the comprehensive service building of the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, photographed on September 7, 2022 in the Province of Suez, Egypt. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Dongzhen

Walid Jabara, a member of the Egyptian Political Economy, Statistics and Legislative Association, believes that jointly building multiple "Belt and Road" projects with China, including the TEDA Cooperation Zone, have effectively boosted the Egyptian economy.

Innovative and enterprising opening up a new situation of cooperation

On the basis of cooperation in areas such as energy, China and Arab countries are accelerating the expansion of cooperation in emerging fields such as wind power, photovoltaics, green and low-carbon, and digital economy, connecting with national development strategies, and promoting the transformation of cooperation to a technology-driven one.

The 200 MW photovoltaic power plant project in Tandra, Megayer Province, undertaken by a Chinese company, is one of the key projects in Algeria to achieve its strategic goal of renewable energy installed capacity in 2030. The project started in March last year. While helping to increase the proportion of clean energy in Algeria and promote green development, it also creates about 500 jobs for the local area.

For Saudi Arabia, a major Gulf oil exporter, strengthening cooperation with China is an important help to realize its "Vision 2030", especially in developing non-oil industries and building industrial value chains. Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Falih said that Saudi Arabia is transcending the scope of cooperation in the traditional energy field, opening up new areas of cooperation in renewable energy, science and technology, logistics and advanced manufacturing, and opening a new chapter in Saudi-China economic relations.

The digital economy has become a new track of China-Arab economic and trade cooperation, and the two sides are promoting infrastructure cooperation such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital industries. In Egypt, the "one network, one cloud, one platform" that China Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd. is implementing will provide cloud computing services and communication infrastructure support to 185 companies that have settled in, and empower the development of the park with digital technology. In the view of Ahmed Davish, former Minister of the Egyptian Ministry of Administrative Development and former Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, China's Beidou system and Internet of Things technology solutions are empowering Egypt's computing power infrastructure construction, and local digital economy development has benefited a lot.

Deepen cooperation and promote mutual benefit and win-win results

Since the first session in 2013, the China-Arab Expo has been held every two years, and has become an important platform for China and Arab to deepen pragmatic cooperation and promote the high-quality development of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road". Relying on this mechanism, China-Arab cooperation in various fields has been deepened and implemented, and exchanges and cooperation at all levels have become increasingly active, promoting regional countries and enterprises to share development opportunities.

As the main producer and exporter of date palms in the world, the "Tigris Light" date palm produced in Tunisia is famous all over the world. Tunisian date processor Ahmed Budjebel told reporters that he is very eager to promote the Tunisian star product to expand into the Chinese market.

In fact, China has maintained its position as the largest trading partner of Arab countries for many years, and many other products such as Saudi white shrimp, Tunisian olive oil, Sudanese sesame, and Egyptian fresh orange are increasingly favored by Chinese consumers.

On April 28, in the Dongba Oilfield in Baghdad, Iraq, petroleum engineers monitored the operation status of the oil field through the "smart oil field" system. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Khalil Dawood)

Today, on the war-torn Tigris River, Chinese companies are actively participating in the construction of infrastructure in local areas such as energy, electricity, transportation and public services. China and Iraq jointly build "smart oil fields" have attracted widespread attention from all walks of life in Iraq. Mohamed Yasin, general manager of Iraq Central Oil Company, said that the application of China's digital and intelligent technology and innovative management model is of great significance to improving the efficiency of Iraq's oil and gas development and promoting the optimization and upgrading of the energy industry.

In many fields such as energy, green transformation, and digital economy, China-Arab economic and trade cooperation has formed a development pattern that is both profound and broad. Against the backdrop of the intensified trend of anti-globalization, China-Arab economic and trade cooperation is embarking on a path of sustainable development and becoming a model of cooperation for mutual benefit, win-win and common development among countries around the world. (Reporters: Leng Ruijie, Wang Hao)