Some encouraging news from the now finalized Arab Expo in Yinchuan.
Over 250 deals signed at China-Arab States Expo
Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-08 14:28:25|Editor: Yang Yi
YINCHUAN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 253 deals worth about 186.05 billion yuan (around 28 billion U.S. dollars) had been signed so far at the third China-Arab States Expo in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
The agreements involve agriculture and food processing, new materials, equipment manufacturing, bio-pharmaceuticals, chemical industry, textiles, industrial park construction and modern services.
The new cooperation is expected to forge closer ties between China and Arab states, and add momentum to the Belt and Road Initiative.
The expo, which kicked off Wednesday in Ningxia's capital Yinchuan and will run until Saturday, is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the regional government of Ningxia.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/08/c_136594315.htm
Economic Watch: China-Arab industrial cooperation gathers steam
Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-08 13:38:03|Editor: Yang Yi
YINCHUAN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Yahya Jabri, chairman of a China-Oman industrial park, is briefing investors on Oman's sound business environment at a trade and investment expo in northwest China.
"As a WTO member, we have rolled out a string of favorable policies for investment. Besides oil, we enjoy an advantageous location, a good deepwater port, and complete ship-repairing facility," Jabri says. "Goods transported via Duqm will reach 22 million tonnes in the next decade ... The country will be the gate of North Africa." Oman welcomes more Chinese entrepreneurs to set up joint ventures or solely foreign-owned businesses, he says.
Although still under construction, Jabri's industrial zone is expected to be an exemplary project in China-Arab industrial cooperation. With the foundation stone laid in April, it is designed to develop into a logistics center, commercial harbor and tourist site for the Arabian Sea, covering an area of nearly 1,200 hectares in coastal Duqm.
Investment agreements worth 3.8 billion U.S. dollars were signed between companies of the two sides.
"Total capital poured in will amount to 11 billion dollars in 10 years, and 12,000 jobs will be created for local people," Jabri says.
From the Gulf of Suez in Egypt to Jazan of Saudi Arabia, similar projects were sprouting in Arab countries. After years of stable trade in crude and other goods, the two sides have moved to channel more energy into capacity and technology transfers to forge closer economic ties and reap bigger mutual benefits.
"With huge market potential and unique natural resources, Arab economies are complementary to China," says Chen Zhou, vice president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. "The new cooperation not only allows China to give full play to its competitive industries but helps Arab countries improve infrastructure and build a more sophisticated economic structure."
Abdulrahman al-Saleh, adviser to the Minister of Housing of Saudi Arabia, said he backed such cooperation as it met the needs of the country to transform the economy. Saudi Arabia released an ambitious plan last year to wean off reliance on oil, and to develop education, the arms industry, real estate and tourism.
At the ongoing China-Arab States Expo held in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, 22 contracts on industrial capacity cooperation were signed to pour 17.1 billion yuan (more than 2.5 billion U.S. dollars) into projects ranging from infrastructure to textile and food processing in countries including Oman, United Arab Emirates and Iraq.
Besides traditional projects on energy and resources, Chinese and Arab businesses have started to explore more sectors, such as chemical industry, telecommunication and manufacturing, says Li Shaotong, an official of the Ministry of Commerce.
The global drive of China's high tech sectors, including equipment manufacturing and clean energy, is promising, Chen says.
Driven by robust industrial cooperation, China-Arab investment is surging. A total of 1.1 billion U.S. dollars of non-financial direct investment was made by Chinese companies in Arab states in 2016, up 74.9 percent year on year.
China has signed agreements on industrial capacity cooperation with 37 countries around the world, including Arab countries, says Liu Xia, an official of the National Development and Reform Commission.
By the end of 2016, two Chinese policy banks had issued loans worth 110 billion U.S. dollars for overseas corporate investment along the Belt and Road, and Chinese banks had set up 62 branches in 26 countries.
Running until Saturday, the four-day biennial expo is a significant platform for China and Arab countries to bolster ties.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/08/c_136594176.htm
^^^ Yes, that is more like it.
Economic Watch: China-Arab economic ties get B&R boost
Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-07 01:18:37|Editor: Liu
YINCHUAN, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- According to Abdulrahman Al-Basri, very few Chinese companies worked on contract in Saudi Arabia 10 years ago. Today, Chinese workers are everywhere.
From skyscrapers to oil rigs, Chinese companies in Saudi Arabia work swiftly and cost-effectively.
"We would welcome more engineering companies from China, as well as IT and others," Al-Basri, vice president of SABIC, a Riyadh-based chemical company, said Wednesday at the business session of the ongoing China-Arab States Expo in northwest China.
The corporate executive is far from the only one encouraged by closer China-Arab ties at the gathering in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
Running till Saturday, the four-day expo has assembled executives from over 1,000 companies and nearly 5,000 exhibitors from 31 industries ranging from transportation to big data, along with government representatives and academics. The event has been held three times since 2013, the year the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed.
Economic ties between the two sides were steady, but the Belt and Road Initiative shifted cooperation into another gear.
The expo is important to expanding cooperation, Kamal Hassan Ali, assistant secretary general for economic affairs of the
Arab League, told the opening gathering.
A total of 321 deals in science and technology, finance, energy, agriculture, health, tourism, culture and education were made during previous events, with total contract worth tens of billions of U.S. dollars.
China-Arab trade reached 171 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, and agreements on projects worth 40 billion dollars were signed between the two sides, up 40.8 percent from 2015. China's non-financial direct investment in Arab countries surged 74.9 percent.
At the junction of the Belt and Road that spans across Eurasia, Arab countries are eager to revitalize ancient trade routes,
Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil said.
Six Arab states signed agreements with China on the Belt and Road and seven are founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Joint infrastructure projects were worth 46 billion U.S. dollars last year.
"The Belt and Road has created new opportunities and offers a better business environment for both Chinese and Arab companies," said Ding Hongxiang, vice president of China National Machinery Industry Corporation (Sinomach), a Fortune 500 company.
Entering Arab markets more than 30 years ago, Sinomach has a solid presence there, with infrastructure projects ranging from power plants to schools and hospitals. Projects valued at 3.8 billion U.S. dollars are still in progress.
Chinese firms have channeled investment and production capacity that is badly needed for the industrialization of Middle East, Kabil said.
"We hope to attract Chinese businesses to build industrial parks... to help the development of textile, furniture, electronics and chemical industries," Kabil said, promising favorable measures including tax breaks and shortened approval procedures.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/07/c_136589764.htm
Xi sends letter of congratulations to China-Arab States Expo
Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-06 14:27:15|Editor: Yang Yi
YINCHUAN, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a letter of congratulations to the China-Arab States Expo, which opened Wednesday in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
Noting that China and the Arab states are "good friends," Xi said the two sides had become important partners in the construction of the Belt and Road.
He also hailed the ever broader cooperation and achievements between the two sides.
Xi said the Arab world actively responded to and widely supported his proposal that the Belt and Road should be built as a road of peace, prosperity, opening up as well as innovation, and one that connects different civilizations, during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which was held in Beijing this May.
The expo is an important platform for China and Arab countries to expand cooperation, he said.
During the construction of the Belt and Road, China is willing to promote shared opportunities with other countries, including the Arab states, and jointly promote peace with them, Xi added.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/06/c_136588545.htm
Hopefully people will know understand why I have been calling for closer Arab-Chinese ties since time immortal.
If the deals signed are anything to go by we are in for positive news at the end of the road which is what this is about essentially at the end of the day. What's not to like in other words?
Let pragmatism win over everything else. It's about high time, I believe.
Gentlemen, some comments?
@EgyptianAmerican @Gomig-21 @The SC @Arabi @Bubblegum Crisis @Chinese-Dragon @ChineseTiger1986 etc.