From August 19th to 22nd, the 5th China-Arab States Expo will be held in Yinchuan, Ningxia. “Deepening economic and trade cooperation and jointly building the’Belt and Road'”, the world‘s eyes will once again focus on the open land of Ningxia.
In a speech at the headquarters of the Arab League in January 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the China-Arab Expo has become an important platform for China and Arab countries to jointly build the “Belt and Road”.
On June 10, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized during an inspection tour in Ningxia that it is necessary to seize the major opportunity of jointly building the “Belt and Road”, adhere to the combination of opening up internally and externally, cultivate open economic entities, and create an open economic environment. Open up at a higher level to promote higher-quality development.
Chen Runer, secretary of the Party Committee of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, stated that it is necessary to resolutely implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the spirit of the important speech of Ningxia, based on the new development stage, implement the new development concept, integrate into the new development pattern, and strive to give the China-Arab economic and trade cooperation platform new connotations and seek Open to the outside world at a high level to achieve high-quality development.
An important platform for co-building the Belt and Road Initiative
From the establishment of the China-Arab Economic and Trade Forum in 2010 to the opening of the 4th China-Arab States Expo in 2019, the China-Arab States Expo has gone through a 10-year history of development and has made positive contributions to promoting China-Arab economic and trade cooperation and accelerating Ningxia’s opening up.
Adhering to “serving the country strategy and focusing on economic and trade cooperation”, 10 years of hard work and practice, the China-Arab Expo has gradually developed into a highly influential international expo, enriching the connotation of exchanges and cooperation between China and Arab countries, and building China-Arab economic and trade A new platform for cooperation.
In April 2019, the “Belt and Road Initiative: Progress, Contribution and Prospects” report issued by the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Construction of the “Belt and Road” -Large-scale exhibitions such as the Arab States Expo have become an important platform for China and countries along the route to discuss and cooperate.
“This grand event of the China-Arab Expo reflects the sound development momentum of the overall economic relations between China and Arab countries.” At the 4th China-Arab Expo, Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Raid Huri said: “I believe in such a grand event. It will surely build a unique platform for the joint construction of the’Belt and Road’, and open up broader economic development prospects for Lebanon and China.”
On June 18 this year, at the press conference of the Fifth China-Arab States Expo held in Beijing, Qian Keming, Vice Minister of Commerce, stated that China-Arab States’ development stages are connected, concepts and ideas are compatible, and economic structures complement each other to jointly build the “Belt and Road”, The prospects for deepening economic and trade cooperation are very broad. Under the new situation, we are full of confidence in successfully hosting the China-Arab Expo and pushing China-Arab economic and trade cooperation to a new level.
“At present, the China-Arab Expo is focusing on economic and trade cooperation under the overall framework of policy communication, facility connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people connectivity, and is committed to promoting trade and investment, production capacity cooperation, technical cooperation, and technological cooperation between China and Arab countries. Joint development in health, green development and other fields.” said Xu Xiaoping, director of the Department of Commerce of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
China-Arab pragmatic cooperation has yielded fruitful results
In-depth economic and trade cooperation is an important mission of the China-Arab Expo.
In the first four China-Arab States Expo, there were a total of 112 countries and regions, 21 Chinese and foreign political leaders, 283 foreign ministers, more than 5,000 domestic and foreign companies, and more than 40,000 domestic and foreign guests participated in the exhibition. A total of 936 economic and trade cooperation projects have been signed. The signed projects involve modern agriculture, high-tech, energy and chemical engineering, biopharmaceuticals, equipment manufacturing, infrastructure, industrial park construction, “Internet + medical health“, tourism cooperation and other fields.
China-Arab States Expo actively hosted the 7th China-Arab Entrepreneurs Conference, the 4th China-Arab Friendship Conference, and the 3rd China-Arab Energy Cooperation Conference under the framework of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, and released the ” The Yinchuan Declaration has deepened and consolidated the traditional Sino-Arab friendship and reached consensus on deepening friendly cooperation in energy and other fields.
“High-quality products from Arab countries and China were unveiled at the China-Arab Expo, which not only reflects the needs of the international market, but also reflects the needs of the Middle East and Chinese markets. Based on this, I have always encouraged chambers of commerce and enterprises in Arab countries to participate in this Trade cooperation and experience exchange are coming.” said Val Yasen, director of the Middle East “Belt and Road” Research Center, who has participated in two China-Arab Expos.
In January 2016, the “China Policy Document on Arab Countries” issued by China pointed out that it should make full use of the China-Arab Expo and other exhibition activities platforms to promote mutual visits and exchanges between the governments and enterprises of the two sides. Use the China-Arab Technology Transfer Center to build an integrated technology transfer collaboration network covering China and Arab countries.
Data from the press conference of the Fifth China-Arab Expo shows that China has become the largest trading partner of Arab countries, and Arab countries are China’s largest overseas crude oil suppliers. In 2020, China-Arab trade volume will be 239.8 billion U.S. dollars. Among them, China’s exports to Arab countries amounted to 123.1 billion U.S. dollars.
In recent years, the two-way investment between China and Arab countries has shown many bright spots. As of the end of 2020, China’s direct investment in Arab countries has reached US$20.1 billion, and Arab countries have invested 3.8 billion US dollars in China. The two-way investment covers oil and gas, construction, manufacturing, logistics, power and many other fields. . A number of major investment projects such as the Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Egypt and the second-phase container terminal of Khalifa Port in the UAE have become landmark projects that promote the transformation and upgrading of China-Arab economic and trade cooperation in the new era.
High-level openness promotes high-quality development
Taking the China-Arab Expo as an opportunity, Ningxia seized the opportunity of the “Belt and Road” construction, and the inland open economy developed steadily and achieved remarkable results.
From 2013 to 2020, Ningxia has realized total import and export volume, actual use of foreign capital, and foreign direct investment of 29.774 billion US dollars, 1.714 billion US dollars and 4.37 billion US dollars, respectively, with an average annual growth rate of 3.5%, 10.8% and 12.7%, respectively. With the countries along the “Belt and Road”, they achieved total import and export, actual use of foreign capital, and foreign direct investment of 9.34 billion U.S. dollars, 109 million U.S. dollars and 150 million U.S. dollars respectively.
Based on its industrial characteristics and comparative advantages, Ningxia takes key projects as its starting point, with overseas industrial parks as its support, promotes the joint development of foreign investment and trade, and continuously promotes the “going out” of advantageous industries, excellent enterprises, and high-quality products.
It is understood that at present, Ningxia has carried out economic and trade exchanges and cooperation with 187 countries and regions, and established 156 enterprises in 35 countries and regions. Yinchuan Economic and Technological Development Zone and Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone cooperate with Saudi Arabia to build a China-Saudi (Jizan) Industrial Park. Ningxia Communications Construction, in conjunction with China Road and Bridge Engineering Co., Ltd. and a subsidiary of China Communications Group, is building a Sino-Mauritian Marine Comprehensive Industrial Park in Mauritania.
By hosting the China-Arab Expo, Ningxia has played an important role in technology transfer between China and Arab countries. A group of China-Arab multilateral cooperation agencies including the China-Arab Technology Transfer Center, the China-Arab Agricultural Technology Transfer Center, and the Secretariat of the China-Arab Commercial Mediation Center settled in Ningxia. Relying on the relevant institutions of the country where the UAE is located, eight bilateral technology transfer centers have been established successively, including the Arab League, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, which have played a positive role in enhancing the level of opening up and economic and social development of Ningxia.
“We have established close ties with Arab countries and countries along the’Belt and Road’ in the fields of agricultural technology and economics and trade. We have implemented cooperative projects in various fields such as grain planting, animal husbandry, horticulture, and grape growing. Production capacity, improvement of living conditions, and elimination of hunger and poverty have made useful attempts.” said Hua Zhimin, director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.