Sino-Arab trade forum told of trade opportunities in resurgent Middle East
As economic recovery inevitably returns to the Middle East, the region will provide vast opportunities for Sino-Arab co-operation
As the pace of economic recovery in the Arab world picks up following prolonged political turmoil that began in late 2010, the region is seeing new opportunities for economic collaboration with China.
These opportunities are being highlighted at the ongoing third Sino-Arab economic and trade forum in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region - home to more than 10 per cent of China's 20 million Muslims - and officials and academics in attendance are doing their best to ensure businesspeople from both sides that there is ample room and an urgent need for deeper co-operation.
Vice-Premier Li Keqiang delivered the opening speech on Wednesday and the Chinese government sent a slew of senior officials from several ministries, spelling out their expectations for stronger trade ties between China and Arab regions.
The trade volume between China and the Arab world reached US$195.9 billion last year, a 35 per cent increase from the previous year, according to China's Ministry of Commerce. The two sides want to see that figure top US$300 billion in 2014.
Analysts said that new investment opportunities were opening up for Chinese businesses as Arab countries seek to improve people's living conditions and create new jobs, while a mutually beneficial strategic partnership between China and the Arab world has remained unscathed since Arab spring uprisings began sweeping countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Syria in December 2010.
Dr Florence Eid, director of Arabia Monitor - a London-based research firm conducting economic and market studies in the Middle East and North Africa - said that people in Arab countries who have experienced revolutions now have high expectations for their new governments.