STORY: China, Arab states adopt series of outcome documents
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: May 31, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:36
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the conference
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): AHMED ABOUL-GHEIT, Secretary-General of the Arab League
3. various of street views in China
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): MAGDY AMER, Former Egyptian ambassador to China, Member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA)

STORYLINE:

On Thursday, the 10th ministerial conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) adopted the Beijing Declaration, the CASCF execution plan for 2024-2026, and a China-Arab states joint statement on the Palestinian issue.

During the conference in Beijing, China also signed a number of bilateral and multilateral cooperation documents with the participating countries and with the General Secretariat of the Arab League.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): AHMED ABOUL-GHEIT, Secretary-General of the Arab League
"The China-Arab States Cooperation Forum reflects a strong desire to build a robust relationship between the two sides.
The most important feature of this forum is that it strengthens economic cooperation and deepens relations between the Chinese and Arab civilizations in a clear and consistent manner.
Relations between China and Arab countries are constantly growing. China is willing to further build these relations, and Arab countries need to open up more to China."

For years, China has been the largest trading partner of Arab countries. The volume of trade between the two sides reached 398 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, compared to 36.7 billion dollars in 2004, according to data released by China's Foreign Ministry.

As of now, all the 22 Arab countries and the Arab League have signed cooperation documents with China on jointly building the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): MAGDY AMER, Former Egyptian ambassador to China, Member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA)
"The establishment of the forum and then the cooperation between the two sides, within the framework of the BRI starting from 2013, together promoted Arab-Chinese relations to a completely different level.
This forum put relations on the right path. Having brought the two sides together, it now has regular meetings and mechanisms in almost all fields.
The volume of trade and the volume of investment increased, and so did the number of Chinese companies contributing to development projects in Arab countries.
The BRI was a very great impetus for cooperation between Arab countries and China."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)