Top-level exchanges between China, Mideast to deepen mutual trust, cooperation

Following the grand opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday held a flurry of meetings with leaders from the Middle East, charting the course for ever closer ties marked by deepening political trust and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Meeting separately with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Xi underscored the importance of dovetailing the development strategies between the two sides.

In his meeting with Sisi, Xi urged China and Egypt to join hands to take the lead in China-Arab and China-Africa cooperation, accelerate the building of the China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era, and promote African development and prosperity.

During talks with Qatari and UAE leaders, Xi reiterated China's willingness to work with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which Qatar and the UAE are both members, to accelerate free trade agreement negotiations. The agreement, if reached, is expected to generate market opportunities that benefit all parties.

Positive momentum already emerged three weeks ago as Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Turkey, and Iran, as well as the secretary general of the GCC, in east China, marking the first round of intensive diplomatic interactions between China and Mideast countries since the start of the new year.

Against the backdrop of the raging COVID-19 pandemic and emerging geopolitical changes in the Middle East, enhanced China-Mideast cooperation will leverage respective advantages and tap into their development potentials, particularly in such fields as pandemic response, infrastructure and energy.

China has been a staunch supporter for the Middle East in its fight against COVID-19 from the very start. China donated and exported a large quantity of COVID-19 vaccines to Middle East countries in dire need of them, at a time when Western countries largely hoarded vaccines for their own good.

In Egypt, Algeria and the UAE, China has helped localize vaccine production to meet the rising demand, demonstrating ever-deepening friendship and mutual trust and opening new areas of cooperation.

The development strategies of China and Mideast countries are also highly complementary. China, a big energy consumer and a major country leading the global green efforts, could expand cooperation with Mideast countries in diversifying their economies and optimizing its own energy structure.

Meanwhile, China has long upheld the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and insisted that its collaboration with foreign countries have no political strings attached.

This principle as well as natural advantage promises broad prospects for practical cooperation between China and Mideast countries, which are long plagued by interference, sanctions and threats from U.S.-led West.

Going forward, China and Mideast countries will continue to benefit from increasingly fruitful cooperation and their common aspiration to build a community with a shared future for mankind.