Interview: Arabs welcome Xi's initiative to build "community of shared destiny": AL official

Arabs wholeheartedly welcome the initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping to build a "community of shared destiny" with Arab states as well as all actions to enhance ties between the two sides, an Arab League (AL) official told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"There is an Arab general desire to take all steps that would lead to improving the relations between Arabs and China, and enhancing our shared vision and mutual cooperation in all fields," Fadel Gawad, AL's assistant secretary-general for political affairs, said in the exclusive interview.

He hailed the relations between China and Arab states as "extremely good," with trade and economic cooperation growing day after day, stressing that politically China is one of the countries whose positions are "reassuring" for Arabs, especially on the Palestinian cause and other key Arab issues.

"China has a vision of openness toward the Arab world and Chinese-Arab ties are deeply-rooted in history, which is why there is mutual understanding between the two sides in many fields," Gawad said.

He added that there is an executive program of cooperation for the year of 2014, 2015 and 2016 that was approved by China and the AL. The program includes various activities in many fields, such as culture, energy, libraries, and others.

"We continue to carry out the program and we will evaluate what has been accomplished and what needs to be done through the upcoming meetings in Cairo," Gawad said.

He mentioned that there are two China-Arab meetings in Cairo in June; the first one is the meeting for strategic, political dialogue, another one is the 12th session of senior officials meeting that will address several issues including political and non-political ones.

"The Arab-Chinese meetings in Cairo next month are expected to enhance mutual understanding between the Arab League and China in political, economic and other fields," Gawad said.

"China always supports Arab causes, especially the Palestinian cause, in its international and bilateral meetings. We appreciate and highly value that for China and we always hope to enhance the Arab-Chinese relations in all fields," Gawad said.

The volume of trade between China and the Arab world in 2014 has exceeded 251 billion U.S. dollars, according to official statistics of Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

"There is real exchange between China and the Arab nations and there are giant projects carried out by the Chinese side in Arab states in fields of petroleum, energy, transport, housing, etc," the AL official continued, "there is continuous cooperation between the two sides in these fields."

Gawad concluded that the giant Asian power has always been a friend country of Arabs throughout history. "The Arab League in particular and the Arab world in general pay utmost attention to China and always seek to enhance continued relations with China." Endit