Future anti-pandemic cooperation

Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Mideast countries join hands in the fight against it, which has sublimated their friendship, deepened mutual trust, and opened up new areas of cooperation, Wang said.

The Chinese government has practically fulfilled its solemn commitment to making vaccines a global public good, donating and exporting nearly 38 million doses of vaccines to 17 countries in the Middle East, Wang noted.

He said China is willing to work with the countries in the Middle East to push forward the anti-epidemic cooperation:

Firstly, China will step up vaccine cooperation with countries in the Middle East and continue to donate and export vaccines to the region to the best of its ability.

Secondly, China will promote the establishment of an international mechanism for mutual recognition of health codes to facilitate personnel exchanges.

Thirdly, China and Mideast countries will continue to build consensus on preventing the politicization of pandemic from reemerging, and make the vaccines available and affordable to all countries.

Building China-Arab community with shared future

Facing complex changes in the international situation, the China-Arab relations have set a good example for the South-South cooperation, Wang touted.

Over the past year and more, Chinese President Xi Jinping and many Arab heads of state have held over 10 phone calls and exchanged nearly 20 letters, pointing the way for the development of the China-Arab relations, he said.

China and the Arab countries firmly support each other, jointly defend the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and safeguard multilateralism, equity and justice, the Chinese minister said.

"And the anti-pandemic cooperation has demonstrated the China-Arab brotherly friendship of sharing weal and woe," Wang said.

To build the China-Arab community with a shared future, "we should focus on strengthening solidarity and coordination among developing countries, and promoting reform of the international system and the formulation of international rules to better reflect the voices and concerns of developing countries," he said.

China and Arab states need to align development strategies, consolidate cooperation on the whole energy industry chain, deepen cooperation on new and high technologies, upgrade financial investment and free trade arrangements, and align rules and standards more closely, Wang said.

"We need to build closer people-to-people ties, make good use of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and other mechanisms to deepen exchanges and cooperation on the youth, culture, education and tourism, and lay a solid foundation for lasting friendship," he added.

Consensus on human rights

Wang said that the views of human rights held by some Western countries don't represent those of the international community, noting that such views of the developing countries should be more listened to, respected and absorbed.

"The six (Middle East) countries I visited this time and China are all developing countries and share same or similar views on the human rights issue," Wang said.

"We agree that human rights ought to be comprehensive and balanced. The rights to live and develop are as important as the political and social rights, and fairness and justice should be respected the same as democracy and freedom," he noted.

During the recent session of the UN Human Rights Council, many developing countries, including 21 Arab countries, voiced solidarity with China, Wang said, noting China has always objected to using human rights as an excuse to meddle in the domestic affairs of Arab countries.

"China is keen to work together with Arab and other regional countries to champion the policy of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and preserve the common interests of each other and the developing countries," he said.

Synergy of development strategies

Wang revealed that the six countries he visited pin high hope on future practical cooperation with China.

He said China is ready to work with Mideast countries to promote cooperation mainly in three areas: further synergy of their development strategies, better integration of their resource markets, and exchange of experiences on governance.

Firstly, China and Mideast countries should better align their development strategies. All the six countries he visited, Wang said, expressed strong willingness to dovetail their development strategies with the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative to take advantage of the opportunities offered by China's drive to create a new paradigm of development.

Secondly, the two sides should step up cooperation on energy and resources as well as high tech. Wang suggested the two sides consolidate their energy cooperation along the entire industrial chain, promote trade facilitation, innovate investment models, and expand the scale of bilateral currency swaps, in addition to increasing cooperation in information technologies such as 5G, big data and artificial intelligence.

Thirdly, the two sides should hold in-depth exchange on the views of governing philosophies. In this regard, China is ready to focus more on helping Mideast countries to improve the livelihood of their peoples so to enable them to share the fruits of economic development, the Chinese diplomat said.

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