Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia at Riyadh's al-Yamamah Palace in Saudi Arabia, Dec 8, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
During President Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia, he participated in the inaugural China-Arab States Summit as well as the first China-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit and also undertook a number of bilateral meetings with his Arab counterparts.
Substantial economic capacity, technological prowess and huge investment capacity make China an attractive partner for the Arab world.
China and the Arab world are constructive international contributors and strong supporters of the peaceful resolution of disputes. Consequently, formal declarations after group meetings will be reached easily using traditional concepts governing international relations, especially the sanctity of state sovereignty and noninterference in internal affairs of states.
Maritime security along the east coast of Africa and in and around the Arabian Gulf (also known as the Persian Gulf) is an issue likely to have been raised by Arab counterparts. President Xi would have found attentive listeners if he expanded on State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s earlier statement about the basic principles related to peace and security in the region.
President Xi’s visit to Saudi Arabia and the China-Arab States Summit are expected to produce some concrete results. Saudi Arabia’s and China’s economic weight and visionary outlook bode well for increasingly strong Arab and Chinese ties.
Equally, if not even more important, the China-Arab States Summit will provide China and Arab countries with the opportunity to reassess each other. China will be assessing whether the Arab world is an attractive and reliable partner in good times and bad, especially as the world order moves more toward choppy waters, given the region’s relations with the West.
For their part, Arab countries will seek to assess whether China will play an increasingly prominent role in international relations and promote a more equitable, sustainable world order. I am confident that both sides have concluded the meetings with a sense of satisfaction.
The next step will be for China and the Arab world to work together toward the stated objectives. Even the best intentions need resilience, determination and committed-nurturing for them to bear fruit. I strongly believe that it serves the interests of China and the Arab world that such action is pursued.
The author is former foreign minister of Egypt and visiting senior fellow at the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding at Peking University. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.