Connecting to the Arab world

Moreover, the US is gradually disengaging strategically from the greater Middle East, creating a vacuum that China can fill. But to succeed, China will need to become more attentive to the region's complex dynamics, find creative ways to participate in conflict-resolution efforts, and respond enthusiastically to Middle Eastern governments' growing desire to connect to Asia.

Doing so would help realize the goal of developing the country's vast inland areas; and specifically the Ningxia Hui and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions, which have substantial Muslim communities, could benefit more from deeper links with Arab economies.

Enhanced influence in the Arab world would also promote the perception of China as a leader of the developing world - a position that could boost China's strategic and economic resilience considerably. For starters, it would enable China to capitalize on the demographic heft of the developing world, which will house more than 80 percent of the world's population in 2020. Moreover, it would allow China to maximize its gains from burgeoning trade among developing economies, which surged from 8 percent of global trade in 1990 to 24 percent in 2011.

To be sure, not all Arab governments are welcoming China with open arms. Indeed, many of the Middle East's most powerful actors - including Turkey and Saudi Arabia - are suspicious of China's long-term intentions.

But China can take steps to gain these countries' trust. For example, China's leaders should work to address the unrest in the Muslim-dominated Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region more effectively.

China's "march west" into the Arab world is a bold effort to translate its economic might into enduring regional - and, ultimately, global - influence. This is a daunting task, but it is one that can help to secure China's long-term future, and perhaps bring greater weight to bear in resolving the region's immense challenges.

The author, a research fellow at the Charhar Institute, a Chinese foreign-policy think tank, is also an adjunct fellow with the Center for International and Strategic Studies at Peking University and the executive editor of China International Strategy Review. Project Syndicate

(China Daily 06/20/2014 page8)