China and the Arab world will be able to promote friendly and cooperative ties on the basis of mutual respect, benefit and equality in the new century, said a leading Chinese lawmaker.
Tomur Dawamat, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, told a seminar on China-Arab relations Monday in Beijing that the long history of mutual contacts had enabled the Chinese and Arab people to establish friendly ties.
Frequent high-level visits in the current period are further promoting these relations, since China and the Arab world often share similar views on key international issues concerning peace and development, said Dawamat, who also chairs the China-Arab Friendship Association.
Besides enhanced political ties, China and the Arab nations have seen a rapid growth of economic and trade cooperation, he said, citing the mutual trade volume, which has increased by ten times over the past decade.
The seminar on China-Arab relations in the 21st century is jointly sponsored by the China Institute of International Studies and the Arab Thought Forum.
Scholars from China, Libya, Jordan, Iraq, Sudan and Egypt will hold discussions on political, cultural and economic relations between China and the Arab world during the two-day event.
(People's Daily May 28, 2002)
