China, Arab entrepreneurs seek co-op at forum

YINCHUAN -- Chinese and Arab entrepreneurs at the ongoing China-Arab States Economic and Trade Forum agreed that business cooperation between the two sides' companies should be deepened.

Companies should not take "selling products" as the only means of cooperation, but instead consider business cooperation in the long run, He Ping, president of Shanghai-based Langsheng Investment Co Ltd, said at the event in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

He said currently, cooperation between companies in China and Arab states mostly extends to commodity purchases and sales in the manufacturing sector, and providing labor forces in the service sector.

"Such low-level cooperation is not good for the internationalization and globalization of Chinese or Arab companies," he said.

The League of Arab States has become China's seventh-largest trading partner, and China is the league's second-largest. Trade between China and the member countries surged 34.7 percent to $195.9 billion last year.

But large trade volume does not mean deep-level exchange and cooperation, according to He.

He advised companies to cooperate in industrial standards, systems, brand building, market fostering and company globalization.

Zhang Lin, vice president of Chinese auto giant Geely, said the company is building an overseas plant to establish a localized system in cooperation with local companies.

According to Zhang, the number of cars exported by Geely to Arab countries from January to August rocketed 500 percent year-on-year to 24,000 units, accounting for 43 percent of the company's total export volume. The company is also to cooperate with an auto company in Egypt for auto assembly, under a project expected to be put into operation next year.

Khalil Abdulrah, general manager of the Shanghai branch of Saudi Arabian oil giant Saudi Aramco, said the companies of China and Arab states should investigate markets on both sides, provide high-quality products and services that are compliant to the standards of the other, and help each other become globalized.

The 3rd China-Arab States Economic and Trade Forum opened on Wednesday. More than 7,000 domestic and overseas officials, exhibitors, purchasers and investors from Libya, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar and other developing countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, are attending the five-day forum.