Diplomats, experts discuss China-Arab cooperation

"Owing to the Belt and Road Initiative, Arabian countries, which bridge communication between the East and the West, have attracted more attention from various sides," Liu Baolai, former Chinese ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, said at the seminar, which was organized by the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development under the university and China International Studies Foundation.

"The initiative has also brought actual benefits to people of the two (Chinese and Arab) sides. Many projects jointly constructed by the two sides have been completed or are ongoing."

China has offered generous help to some Arabian countries in areas such as refugee relief and medical and health support, which has laid a solid foundation for future cooperation, said Sun Degang, deputy director of the university’s Middle East Studies Institute.

Economic and trade collaboration as well as people-to-people exchanges have developed in leaps and bounds, said Abdullah Saleh Al-Saadi, the Omani ambassador in Beijing and dean of Arab ambassadors in Beijing.