China, Arab States to explore cooperation

The opening ceremony of the China-Arab States Expo 2015 is held in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, Sept 10, 2015. The second China-Arab States Expo, a platform to promote ties between China and the Middle East countries, kicked off on Thursday, and will run until Sunday in Yinchuan, capital city of Ningxia. [Photo/Xinhua]

Jordan is the guest country of honor for the 2015 expo. On Wednesday, Xi and the Jordanian king signed a joint statement in Beijing on the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries.

They will boost cooperation in trade, investment, industrial capacity, infrastructure, energy, finance and law enforcement, among other sectors, and increase cultural, educational and military-to-military exchanges, according to the statement.

King Abdullah said Jordan values the traditional friendship with China and stands ready to boost cooperation with China in pursuit of common development and prosperity.

Trade between China and the Arab States exploded from $10 million in 1950s to $251.2 billion in 2014, which made China the second largest trade partner of the Arab States. They aim to increase trade volume to $600 billion in the ten years to come.

Arabian students in China increased by 11.7 percent in 2014 to 14,000 people. Nearly one million trips were made to the Arab States last year, and China received 340,000 trips from these countries.

The biennial China-Arab States Expo is jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and the government of Ningxia.