Modern Silk Road Weaves Strategic Ties

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit (R) shakes hands with China President Xi Jinping (L) after giving a speech at the 8th Ministerial Meeting of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 10, 2018. AFP

HONG KONG – Frankincense is used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to alleviate pain and reduce swelling. But the aromatic resin's inclusion in TCM's materia medica does not only affirm its ability to activate the vital life It is also a concrete reminder of the centuries-old trade between China and the Arab nations.

Frankincense, after all, came to China via the land trade routes that flourished in the 7th century. The ancient Silk Road encourages both the trading of goods and the sharing of ideas between Chinese and Arab merchants. This case has been dealt with by the Chinese and Chinese leaders in the past few years.

For instance, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a fee on 19-20 to the United Arab Emirates ( UAE) to enhance bilateral cooperation and development in strategic partnership

The President of the United States Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Chinese Ambbadador to the UAE Ni Jian said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that it is the first visit of the Arab world, the UAE is China's second largest trading partner and the largest export market for Chinese goods.

Total trade between China and the UAE increased 1.06 percent to US $ 41 billion in 2017, according to Xinhua.

Chinese and UAE firms have joined together in several infrastructure projects. These include the construction of a solar power plant and a clean coal power plant in Dubai and the expansion of the Khalifa Port in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi.

A broader scale, China-Arab relations are expected to be strengthened by Silk Road – The Belt and Road Initiative.

The Belt and Road was also included in the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) held early this month in Beijing.

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Analysts interviewed by the China Daily Asia Weekly said the Belt and Road Initiative will expand bilateral trade, boost investments and open up [China] "China has been 'looking west' and China-Middle East relations have been strengthened (by the Belt and Road Initiative)," said Sun Degang, of Director of the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University.

This is "win-win cooperation", noting that China is now among the biggest investment sources and trading partners of several Arab countries. Arab countries, meanwhile, offer a bigger market to China's fast-growing enterprises.

The Arab world straddles West Asia, Africa and Europe has a huge potential consumer market of 350 million, he said.

"China and the Arab nations have complementary goals and objectives (that can lead to) a strategic partnership, "said Sheikha Alanoud Ebraheem Al-Sabah, a Kuwaiti-based scholar of China-Arab relations.

She said China is a fast-growing economy that to secure its energy sources and access to overseas markets. Arab countries, meanwhile, need a market for their oil and gas exports, and additional infrastructure investments to develop their other industries.

In 2014, Xi called on Arab States to support the Belt and Road Initiative during the sixth ministerial meeting of the CASCF. He said China and Arab states enjoy mutual understanding and friendship because of the Silk Road, adding that they are natural partners for the initiative.

Four years after Xi made the call, China and the Arab States have been involved in "fruitful Wang Yi

In the article published on July 8 in the Gulf News, Wang said in the past few years. the heads of state of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Palestine. China has also established or upgraded its strategic relations with Arab countries and

Both the Silk Road Fund and the Asian Investment Infrastructure Bank have invested in Arab countries.

The strong diplomatic and economic relations. Wang said China-Arab trade rose 11.9 percent to US $ 200 billion in 2017, while Chinese investments in Arab countries increased 9.3 percent to US $ 1.26 billion.

"In the case of Sino-Arab states' partnership, I would expect to see Fulton said Chinese firms, "said Jonathan Fulton, badistant professor of political science in Abu Dhabi 's Zayed University. are among the biggest investors in Oman's Duqm Special Economic Zone and the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) in the UAE.

Reuters reported that 15 Chinese companies have poured US $ 1 billion into KIZAD, while a consortium of Chinese firms have invested in the Duqm Special Economic Zone.

For Ben Simpfendorfer, CEO of Hong Kong-based advisory firm Silk Road Associates, these investments show how Chinese companies tap the opportunitie "Presented by the Belt and Road."

Analysts said these investments are also crucial to Arab countries' next stage of development: diversifying their economies which have long relied on fuel exports. Several Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait have seen their growth in 2014-16 dented their growth.

Sholto Byrnes, Senior Fellow at the Malaysia-based Institute of Strategic and International Studies, said the world is one of the world's most important countries. the Gulf economies "

" The Belt and Road Initiative will provide another source of growth for Arab countries, "said Terence Chong, executive director of the Lau Chor Tak Institute at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Chong said that by partnering with China,

The Duqm Special Economic Zone – a key point in Oman's economic diversification. Chinese firms, the largest investors in Duqm, have committed to build a methanol plant, pipe factories, a manufacturing badembly, and a meeting place in the United States, [SaudiArabiawhichrolledoutitsSaudiVision2030in2016hasalsotappedChinaasapartnerinitseconomicdiversificationAfterhisstatevisittoBeijinglastyearSaudiArabianKingSalmanbinAbdulazizAlSaudwenthomewithUS$65billionChinaandSaudiArabia

The Belt and Road Initiative will also give Arab countries has "cost effective access to new markets," said Nawazish Mirza, Dubai-based badociate professor of finance at the business school, SP Jain School of Global Management.

He said apart from China, Arab countries will be able to

Mirza said China's key role in the Arab States' economic diversification also baderts that Sino-Arab is one of the countries that will be connected by the roads, ports and railways built under the Belt and Road Initiative. relations extend beyond oil exports.

China, as the world's biggest oil importer, sources most of its crude from Middle Eastern countries. This, Mirza said, is why it will remain a very important factor in China's relationship with the Arab world. But the Belt and Road Initiative will expand this cooperation

"The mutual synergies can easily benefit both sides in trade, manufacturing, finance, technology and culture," he said.

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