Rejuvenating an Ancient Connection

Rejuvenating an Ancient Connection

The time-honored Sino-Arab relationship has been rapidly expanding in recent years. China and Arab countries are working together in a wide range of fields, from promoting trade and investment to fighting against desertification. In a recent interview with Beijing Review reporter Ding Ying, Vice President of the China-Arab Exchange Association Qin Yong shared his opinions about the past, present and future China-Arab ties.

Beijing Review: How has the Sino-Arab communication been since the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949? And what is the development of the Sino-Arab relationship in recent years?

Qin Yong: The Sino-Arab friendship can be traced back to over 2,000 years ago. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C-A.D. 25), Chinese diplomatic envoys visited Arab countries, and opened the famous Silk Road between ancient China and the Arab world.

The Sino-Arab relationship has grown even closer since 1949. In 1956, Egypt, Syria and Yemen established diplomatic relations with China, becoming the first group of Arab countries that set up relations with the People’s Republic of China. In July 1990, Saudi Arabia established diplomatic relations with China. By that time China had formed diplomatic relations with all Arab countries.

Political communication and high level exchanges have been closer in recent years with the development of China’s opening up that started in late 1970s. China and many Arab countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have established new types of all-round and cooperative partnerships.

Sino-Arab trade and economic cooperation based on the principle of practical, reciprocal and win-win cooperation has maintained a good tendency of development, with trade volume between China and Arab countries increasing more than 30 percent annually

on average. Although some Arab countries have experienced political turmoil since 2011, the trade volume continues to rise. According to official statistics, their trade volume now exceeds $200 billion. The Arab world has become China’s seventh biggest trade partner. Sino-Arab cooperation has been developing in political, trade and cultural areas in recent years. Frequent high-level exchanges have not only enhanced mutual understanding, but also provided guarantees for boosting their coordination and cooperation on regional and international issues. In the field of trade, many non-governmental forums, seminars and conferences have been held to build new platforms for complementary and practical cooperation. They have also promoted cooperation in education and research through activities like cultural dialogues and festivals. Arab countries’ economic levels are quite different. But as a whole, the Arab world belongs to the Third World, and so does China. China and the Arab world have similar pasts and the same task of development. For now, China is the only power in the international arena that maintains good relationships with all countries in the Middle East.

Are there any obstacles to overcome in Sino-Arab relations?

Although their trade volume has been on the rise in recent years, it represents a small percentage of their total foreign trade. Besides, trade is unbalanced and involves only limited kinds of goods.

There are many factors blocking the development of Sino-Arab trade relations. Most of China’s exports to the Arab world are durable consumer goods of low technology and low added value. Some products have quality problems, which greatly decreases the competitiveness of Chinese products. Because of Chinese companies’ poor marketing strategies, some of China’s high-quality and hi-tech products have yet to enter the Arab market.

We should admit that current Sino-Arab trade and economic cooperation still has a long way to go. China, the biggest developing country, has a similar domestic situation and environment as Middle East nations. Therefore, there is great potential for them to expand the range and volume of their trade in the coming years.

At the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum held in early June, the countries set the goal of raising the trade volume to $300 billion by 2014. Do you think this goal is reasonable? How could the goal be realized?

This goal definitely can be realized by 2014. First of all, there will be a more favorable development environment. Situations in Arab countries are easing up. Economic competition will generally replace political conflict, as regional economic cooperation becomes the norm in the region. As China’s overall national strength expands, and its position in the world increases, Arab countries are paying more attention to fully developing their relations with China, hoping China can play an important role in the region. With its stable political and economic environment, efficient macroeconomic regulation, proper currency exchange system and improving social and economic structures, China is attracting more Arab investors. China also cherishes its relationship with the Arab world. In recent years, Chinese leaders have visited Arab countries every year.

CHINATOWN IN DUBAI: Costumers shop at Dubai’s Dragon Mart on May 2. The mall covers an area of 180,000 square meters and is China’s biggest mall in the Middle East

Energy cooperation will expand trade and economic cooperation. Statistics show that China’s per-capita oil consumption, which is 1.1 barrels, is much lower than the world’s average level of 3.3 barrels. And this is only 5 percent of the per-capita oil consumption of the United States. As it transforms itself to a producer with more technology content, China needs to import more resources and primary products, including crude oil, from Arab countries.

China’s “west development” strategy provides new opportunities for Sino-Arab trade and economic cooperation. In the past, Arab countries’ total investment and joint ventures were only about 0.2 percent of the total foreign investment and joint ventures in China. The Chinese Government now implements many favorable policies to encourage foreign investment in west China, which is geographically close to the Middle East Arab countries. Moreover, religious and cultural bonds serve as a good basis for trade and economic cooperation between west China and Arab countries.

China and Arab countries agreed to conduct more cooperation in preventing desertification at the forum. Do you think there is potential for cooperation in this area?

China is one of the countries most severely jeopardized by desertification, as the desertified area occupies over 27 percent of China’s total land territory. After decades of prevention and governance, China’s desertified area, which expanded 34 million square km annually on average at the end of the last century, now decreases 17 million square km every year. The government’s leading role, the application of technology and an effective legal system have ensured China’s success in desertification prevention and governance.

With its low-cost and practical technology, China can help Arab countries cope with desertification. Therefore, China and Arab countries will conduct promising cooperation on desertification prevention and governance, which is going to bring great social profits to all sides.

Will the turmoil in West Asia and North Africa influence the Sino-Arab relationship?

The turmoil in the region will not affect Sino-Arab relations. China has decided to input more diplomatic resources in the region. China and the Arab world both stick to the principles of mutual respect and non-interference in other countries’internal affairs. But non-interference is not equal to making no effort.

China and most countries in the Middle East are developing countries, sharing common stances on human rights and the establishment of new international political and economic orders. Stability and development have become the top priorities of many Arab countries as the Middle East peace process deepens.

Seeing China’s significant achievements after over 30 years of reform and opening up, Middle East countries all hope to strengthen their trade and economic cooperation with China. To China, the Middle East is a huge market with more than 200 million consumers. In the meantime, Middle East contributes to China’s highspeed economic development as one of China’s major oil suppliers. Economic cooperation between them is highly complementary.

Can you give us a brief introduction of the China-Arab Exchange Association? What is your role in Sino-Arab cooperation? The China-Arab Exchange Association is an NGO jointly formed by social and business elites in China and Arab countries. Our principle is to establish and develop friendship and cooperation with Arab NGOs and research institutes as well as influential Arabs from all sectors of society, so as to promote Sino-Arab friendship, communication and cooperation.

We focus on building three cooperative platforms for China and the Arab world. The China-Arab Investment and Trade Negotiation Meeting aims to display the investment environment, policies and business opportunities in Chinese provinces and cities and attract Arab investors. The China-Arab Industry and Commerce Leaders Summit is not only a gathering of politicians and think tanks, but also a conference where participants explore opportunities for energy, financial, investment and trade cooperation. The China-Arab Dialogue on People-to-People Friendship and Cooperation addresses international issues of common interest concerning China and Arab countries.

We also hope to help Chinese enterprises develop projects in Arab countries. For example, we will help build a Chinatown in Cairo, similar to the Dragon Mart in Dubai. The project will cost about 200 million Egyptian pounds ($33 million) and offer at least 2,000 jobs to Egyptians. It is going to be a flagship project of China-Egypt trade and economic cooperation.

Because of Chinese companies’ poor marketing strategies, some of China’s high-quality and hi-tech products have yet to enter the Arab market