China's first Arab Policy Paper sets out development strategies

People select Pakistani brassware at the China-Arab States Expo 2015 in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Sept 12, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - China is willing to coordinate development strategies with Arab states and put into play each other's advantages and potentials, according to the first China's Arab Policy Paper issued on Wednesday.

China is willing to have pragmatic cooperation in the principle of mutual benefit and win-win results with Arab states, the paper said.

According to the paper, Arab countries as a whole have become China's biggest supplier of crude oil and the 7th biggest trading partner. China's proposed initiatives of jointly building the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", establishing a "1+2+3" cooperation pattern and industrial capacity cooperation, are well received by Arab countries.

The "1+2+3" cooperation pattern refers to taking energy cooperation as the core, infrastructure construction and trade and investment facilitation as the two wings, and three high and new tech fields of nuclear energy, space satellite and new energy as the three breakthroughs.

In the process of jointly pursuing the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, China is willing to coordinate development strategies with Arab states and put into play each other's advantages and potentials, promote international production capacity cooperation and enhance cooperation in the fields of infrastructure construction, trade and investment facilitation, nuclear power, space satellite, new energy, agriculture and finance, so as to achieve common progress and development and benefit our two peoples, the paper said.

The paper said China is willing to cooperate with Arab states to promote the new type of cooperation mechanism featuring openness and reciprocality, mutual benefit and win-win results.

"We encourage and support the expansion and optimization of mutual investment by enterprises from the two sides," the paper said, adding that China is ready to continue to provide foreign-aid loan on favorable terms to Arab countries, as well as export credits and overseas investment insurance.

"We will strengthen exchanges and consultations between Chinese and Arab trade authorities, complete China-GCC FTA negotiations and sign a free trade agreement at an early date," the paper said.

"We will jointly build the China-Arab clear energy training center and develop all-round cooperation in related areas," the paper said.