II. Major contributions of China-Arab States Expo
From the perspective of economic diplomacy theory, China's economic diplomacy with Arab countries primarily relies upon two channels. The first is the cooperation of ministries, central enterprises, industry associations, think tanks and other departments, which is reflected in the establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) and its development into the most important mechanism of China-Arab ministerial bilateral relations. The second is the coordination between the central and local governments, which is mainly reflected in the fact that Yinchuan, in Ningxia, and Yiwu, in Zhejiang, have become the typical cases of economic and trade cooperation between local governments and Arab countries. The China-Arab Expo has made positive contributions in expanding the functional cooperation of the CASCF; played a special and important role in expanding the participation of local governments, enterprises and non-governmental organizations in international economic and trade cooperation; and provided institutional experience for China to be better involved in economic governance and inter-regional economic and trade cooperation in the Middle East. The special value of the China-Arab Expo also lies in that it has influenced China's local governments to re-examine and deepen their cooperation with Arab countries to a certain scope, and may promote the formation of a more balanced, stable, pragmatic and efficient overall framework of cooperation with Arab countries.
(1) China-Arab Expo enriches the connotation of China-Arab collective cooperation
Arab countries hoped that China would play a more constructive role in intensifying economic and trade exchanges, promoting technology transfer, strengthening industrial cooperation, increasing people-to-people exchanges, and tackling regional politics and security affairs. The China-Arab Expo is a new platform that expanded under the framework of the CASCF, enriching the connotations of China-Arab collective cooperation.
First, the China-Arab Expo provides support for the functional mechanism of the CASCF. The overall cooperation between China and the League of Arab States (LAS) and the bilateral cooperation between China and the member states of LAS complement and reinforce each other. Under the framework of the CASCF, functional cooperation mechanisms have been formed, such as business conferences, energy, dialogue between civilizations, higher education and research, press, environmental protection and human resources training. As the organizer of the China-Arab Expo, the People's Government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has attached great importance to the strategic guiding role of institutional activities in China-Arab cooperation in relevant fields, under the framework of the CASCF; has reported and communicated with the leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant departments and bureaus on multiple occasions; and has actively sought for the right to host relevant activities in Ningxia.
Firstly, efforts have been made to undertake the established institutional activities of the CASCF. In 2006, the first training course on desertification control technology for Arab countries was held in Ningxia, with 12 sessions having been held so far. In 2012, the 4th China-Arab Friendship Conference and the 3rd China-Arab Energy Cooperation Conference were held. In 2017, the 7th China-Arab States Business Conference was held in Ningxia for the first time, and the Yinchuan Declaration was issued. Efforts have also been made to implement the Action Plan of the CASCF in relevant areas. On September 10, 2015, the People's Government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China jointly launched the "China-Arab States Technology Transfer and Innovation Cooperation Conference" and organized the China-Arab States Technology Transfer Center. The two have since become the "head" mechanism and practical platform for promoting China-Arab cooperation in science and technology innovation.
Secondly, the policies and measures adopted by China to support the successful hosting of the China-Arab Expo keep the Expo running and stable. In the process of economic and trade cooperation, China and Arab countries have attached great emphasis to the building of bilateral and multilateral mechanisms and have given consideration to the efficiency of practical cooperation and the sustainability of bilateral exchanges. Since the China-Arab Economic and Trade Forum evolved into the China-Arab Expo in 2013, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce and other national ministries and commissions, have put a new premium on and provided long-term support for the success of the Expo. In terms of experience exchanges, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly held the symposium on promoting the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road on December 14, 2013. On June 4, 2014, Ningxia, as the only provincial-level region in China, participated in the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the CASCF held in Beijing. In terms of policy support, since 2015, a series of policy documents have been issued at the national level to support the China-Arab Expo in performing its role as a platform and promoting exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and Arab governments and enterprises. These documents provide an important policy guarantee for the sustainable development of the China-Arab Expo.
Furthermore, the Arab side spoke highly of the contributions and role of the China-Arab Expo. Arab participants from previous Expos made positive comments on and expressed their appreciation for the vital role of the China-Arab Expo in deepening bilateral practical cooperation. Tariq Kabil, Minister of Industry and Trade of Egypt, said during his visit to the 3rd China-Arab Expo that the Expo is an important platform for countries along the Belt and Road; plays a major role in economic and trade contact and people-to-people exchanges between countries; and also serves as a crucial link for countries along the ancient Silk Road. Egypt has set up a trade center in China while serving as the guest of honor at the Expo, in the hopes that China would strengthen its investment in Egypt and expand bilateral cooperation in more areas. Ali Abdullah Saleh, Deputy Minister of the Economy, UAU, attended the Expo in 2010 and 2019. He said that China has advanced technology and is in a leading position in the field of "5G", which ensures tremendous potential for cooperation. He also commented that enhanced China-Arab cooperation can open up a new market for China, while also promoting the development of Arab countries, with the China-Arab Expo setting up a communication platform for bilateral cooperation in economy and trade, science and technology, health care, tourism and other fields. Khaled Hanafy, secretary general of the Union of Arab Chambers, said that the China-Arab Expo is a good opportunity to promote economic and trade cooperation, and that China's openness to the world, including to Arab countries, will benefit both sides. According to Kuwaiti economist Jassem Al Saadun, the Belt and Road Initiative is mutually beneficial, and the China-Arab Expo is a window to understand the initiative.
(2) China-Arab Expo sets an example for expanding international economic and trade cooperation at the local level
In China's total diplomatic layout, it seeks to establish cooperative relations at different levels with countries and regional groups, and to formulate differentiated strategic development goals. Generally speaking, the higher the degree of institutionalization of the overall cooperation, the higher the frequency and scale of matched institutional forums and exhibitions, and the greater the effect of economic and trade cooperation. In 2013, the central government cleaned up and standardized more than 600 exhibitions nationwide, and explicated that large-scale foreign-related institutional economic and trade exhibitions organized as a whole at the national level should be arranged by the central government for the participation of national leaders. In recent years, a number of institutional forums and exhibitions have been added to promote high-level opening-up. Among them, most exhibitions with the words of "China International" before titles are held annually (except the China-CEEC Expo), and exhibitions serving sub-regional cooperation are generally biennial. On the whole, guided by the vision of building a global community of a shared future for mankind, China adheres to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. The central and local governments should work closely together, with the composite development model of economic diplomacy with Chinese characteristics having, to an extent, been initially formed, which consists of "high-grade overall diplomatic and strategic docking platform + high-level institutional forums and exhibitions + high-speed institutional arrangement for economic and trade relations + high-growth local economic and trade cooperation demonstration zone".
The China-Arab Expo provides a useful reference for local governments to build foreign economic and trade cooperation mechanisms. First, Hunan province explored new mechanisms for economic and trade cooperation with Africa and created new windows for local governments to cooperate with Africa in the economy and trade. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China-Africa economic and trade cooperation has expanded to be all-dimensional, multi-tiered and cover all-sectoral areas. In 2018, China-Africa trade volume reached USD 204.2 billion, up 20% year-on-year, with China being Africa's largest trading partner for ten consecutive years. However, as far as the mechanism of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation is concerned, there is no high-level economic and trade exhibition under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which is not commensurate with the continuous development of China-Africa economic and trade relations. In order to establish a new economic and trade exhibition platform for Africa under the framework of the FOCAC, the Department of West Asia and Africa Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China prepared for the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo by drawing on the preparation model and experience of the China-Arab Expo. Hunan is a traditional province of cooperation with Africa, and is highly complementary to African countries in such fields as hybrid rice cultivation, equipment manufacturing, renewable energy, infrastructure construction and people-to-people exchanges. Approved by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the first China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo was held in Changsha from June 27 to 29, 2019. 53 African countries that have established diplomatic ties with China attended the Expo, and a total of 84 cooperation documents totalling an investment of USD 20.8 billion were signed. The "one book, one exhibition" approach is new and realistic.
Moreover, Zhejiang province upgraded and improved the organizing mechanism and enforcement framework of the China-CEEC Expo. The "1+17" overall cooperation model, with China on the one hand and the 17 CEE countries on the other, was an innovative breakthrough in sub-regional cooperation mechanisms within the framework of China-EU relations. Seizing the development strategic opportunity of the "1+17" demonstration zone for economic and trade cooperation, Ningbo, Zhejiang province, has put forward the goal of building Ningbo into one of the top three places for commodities from CEE countries to enter the Chinese market, as well as for two-way investment and cooperation between China and CEE countries, and for people-to-people exchanges between China and CEE countries. Relevant personnel from Zhejiang provincial and Ningbo municipal commercial administrative departments paid a special visit to the Ningxia Expo Bureau to study the application and name change procedures, event planning and design, the mechanism for the establishment of guests of honor, the construction of overseas industrial parks and the establishment of special implementation agencies of the China-Arab Expo. On November 28, 2017, the Ningbo-CEEC Expo and Cooperation Agency was officially established, which is specially responsible for the organization and implementation of the CEEC Expo, as well as the promotion of investment and trade cooperation between CEE countries and those along the Belt and Road.
(3) China-Arab Expo promotes a more balanced and effective local cooperation pattern with Arab countries
The reason for the continuous success of the China-Arab Expo is that the two sides regard it as one of the two most important platforms in promoting China-Arab cooperation. Promoting economic and trade cooperation and development is the core task of the Expo. People-to-people exchanges should be appropriately diluted to avoid the weakening of the theme of economic and trade cooperation. The multi-effect of the China-Arab Expo has urged other provinces to "go out" and "invite in" based on their own advantages, and has enhanced the enthusiasm of local governments to cooperate with Arab countries, while improving China's overall diplomatic pattern with Arab countries.
First, Jiangsu province built a demonstration project for China-Arab Cooperation on industrial capacity. The China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone is a major cooperation project to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to serve the Belt and Road Initiative. After comprehensive consideration by the government, Jiangsu was appointed as the leading province for the project's implementation. Under the guidance of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the UAE, the construction and development of the China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone has achieved comprehensive innovation. As for the working mechanism, the National Development and Reform Commission and the UAE cabinet has established a contact mechanism at the national level; Jiangsu province and Abu Dhabi have established a provincial-level coordination mechanism for the "industrial capacity cooperation conference"; Jiangsu Overseas Cooperation and Investment Company has established a close docking mechanism with Abu Dhabi port; and the three-tier mechanism integrating central and local efforts guarantees the efficient progress of the project. As for the interaction between government and enterprises, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Jiangsu Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Jiangsu Overseas Cooperation and Investment Company have combined efforts to form a package investment policy system; and for financial support, the financial service platform of the China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone has been set up, becoming a pilot platform for the internationalization of RMB under the Belt and Road Initiative. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the main operating enterprises in the zone have attached equal importance to the COVID-19 response and construction, have taken efforts to keep zero cases of infection at construction sites, and have made significant progress in the construction of the management service center building, living service areas, customized factories and road infrastructure in the demonstration zone.
Furthermore, Zhejiang province has deepened energy and petrochemical investment, as well as radio and television cooperation. Zhejiang province served as the theme province of the 2nd China-Arab Expo. Yuan Jiajun, then member of the Standing Committee of the CPC's Zhejiang Provincial Committee and executive vice governor, pointed out in his speech at the opening ceremony of the 2nd China-Arab Expo that the Expo has set a pioneering example for provinces and regions along the Belt and Road to implement national strategies and seize development opportunities, and that there is great potential for Zhejiang province to deepen cooperation with Arab countries. The practice of Zhejiang's cooperation with Arab countries in recent years is mainly reflected in the fields of investment cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. In terms of investment cooperation, on February 22, 2019, a Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) signed a contract with Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co., Ltd., intending to acquire 9% of the shares entrusted by Zhejiang provincial government, so as to accelerate its business layout in China. During the visit of Yuan Jiajun, then governor of Zhejiang province, to Saudi Arabia from September 3 to 5, 2019, the Zhejiang (Zhoushan) Pilot Free Trade Zone signed a memorandum of cooperation with Saudi Aramco.
Yang Zishi is a PhD student in Ningxia University.
This article is an excerpt from "The value, significance and development opportunities of the China-Arab States Expo" (original title "China-Arab States Expo: Origin, Contribution and Outlook"), which was published in West Asia and Africa, No. 4, 2021.
This English version is for reference only. To learn more, please refer to the authoritative Chinese version.
