China and Arab states need to be both ambitious and down-to-earth in building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.

Xi made the remarks in his address at the opening ceremony of the sixth ministerial conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) held in Beijing, which called on the two sides to carry forward the Silk Road spirit and deepen their cooperation.

"Silk Road Economic Belt" and "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", or "One Belt and One Road" for short, were concepts put forward by Xi during his visit to Central Asia and Southeast Asia respectively in 2013.

By "ambitious", Xi said he means that both sides need to carry out good top-level planning, identify the direction and goals and put in place a "1+2+3" cooperation framework.

"One" refers to energy cooperation as the main axis, Xi said, calling for deepened cooperation for the whole industrial chain of oil and natural gas, ensure safety of the energy transport routes and establish a mutually beneficial, safe and reliable China-Arab strategic cooperative relationship for energy based on long-term friendship.

"Two" stands for the two wings of infrastructure construction and trade and investment facilitation. Xi urged all parties to strengthen cooperation in major development projects and landmark projects concerning people's livelihood, and make relevant institutional arrangements so as to promote two-way trade and investment.

"China will encourage Chinese companies to import more non-petroleum products from Arab states to improve trade mix and raise the two-way trade volume from 240 billion U.S. dollars last year to 600 billion U.S. dollars in the coming decade," Xi said.

China will encourage Chinese companies to invest in such fields as energy, petrochemicals, agriculture, manufacturing and services of Arab states to increase China's non-financial investment stock in Arab states from 10 billion U.S. dollars last year to over 60 billion U.S. dollars in the coming decade, he said.

"Three" means that breakthroughs need to be made in the three high-tech areas of nuclear energy, aerospace satellite and new energy and strive to upgrade their practical cooperation. The two sides may discuss the possibilities of establishing a China-Arab technology transfer center, jointly build the Arab training center for peaceful use of nuclear energy and explore the project of making China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System open to Arab states, according to Xi.

By "down-to-earth", Xi said he means striving for early harvest, quoting an Arab proverb that goes the words proved by actions are the most powerful. For those programs on which both sides have reached agreement and laid the foundation, such as the China-Gulf Cooperation Council free trade area, China-United Arab Emirates joint investment fund, and Arab states' participation in the preparations for the Asia infrastructure investment bank, "we need to expedite negotiations and work for the implementation of any project for which conditions are ready," Xi said.

"The sooner we make tangible achievements in the development of the 'One Belt and One Road', the more we can mobilize the initiative of various parties and set examples for other projects," the President said.

Around 200 guests from China and Arab states, including Secretary-general of the League of Arab States Nabil Elaraby, and foreign ministers or representatives attended the forum.

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