CAIRO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- This year marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Arab states, with bilateral practical cooperation in such fields as energy, digital economy, aerospace and culture continuously yielding fruitful results.
Here are some of the highlights of the ever-growing China-Arab cooperation over the years, as the Global South Media and Think Tank Forum Chinese-Arab Partnership Conference kicked off here on Tuesday.
INDUSTRIAL CHAIN INTEGRATION
-- Energy cooperation, the traditional pillar of China-Arab cooperation once centered on crude oil trade, has now expanded into refining, petrochemicals, and new energy.
-- The Yanbu Refinery in Saudi Arabia, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), has boosted the local economy and advanced Saudi petrochemical upgrading since its commissioning in 2016.
A second-phase expansion is now underway to further enhance high-end petrochemical production capacity, making the project a landmark of deepened China-Saudi energy cooperation and the alignment between the Belt and Road Initiative and Saudi Vision 2030.
-- Chinese enterprises are helping Arab nations boost local industrial development through technology transfer, joint production, and industrial parks. By the end of 2025, the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone had attracted more than 200 enterprises, creating over 10,000 local jobs.
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
-- Technological innovation has emerged as a new highlight in China-Arab cooperation over recent years. Arab economic diversification plans, such as Saudi Vision 2030, Qatar National Vision 2030, and the UAE Centennial Plan 2071, align with China's expertise in digital economy such as mobile payments, 5G networks, and smart city construction.
-- Chinese companies, including Huawei and Alibaba, have established regional centers in Riyadh, Dubai, and Cairo, supporting local 5G networks, data centers, and cloud platforms. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Chinese-powered smart city projects have introduced intelligent traffic signal optimization and online public services, greatly enhancing urban management and residents' quality of life.
-- Green energy cooperation is also accelerating. Chinese photovoltaic (PV) companies are building large-scale PV power plants in Oman, the UAE and Egypt, supporting Arab countries' carbon neutrality goals while boosting related sectors, including PV equipment manufacturing and maintenance. In the first two months of 2026, China's PV module exports to the Middle East and North Africa reached 5.8 billion yuan (850 million U.S. dollars), according to Chinese customs data.
-- In aerospace, the Beidou Navigation Satellite System center in Tunisia supports precision agriculture, urban planning, and disaster monitoring. In December 2023, China successfully launched the remote sensing MisrSat-2 satellite for Egypt, making Egypt the first African country with full satellite assembly, integration, and testing capabilities.
SHARED VALUES AS BEDROCK
-- Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit noted recently that the Arab-China friendship is rooted not only in economic and trade cooperation, but also in broad shared values that lay a solid foundation for bilateral practical cooperation.
-- Both sides uphold respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, adhere to non-interference in internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence, and oppose hegemonism and power politics.
-- China's fair stance on the Palestinian question -- advocating the peaceful resolution of conflicts and the implementation of the two-state solution through political dialogue so as to safeguard the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people -- has earned broad appreciation across the Arab world.
-- Arab countries are also keen to learn from China's modernization experience. Both sides believe that development is the fundamental path to resolving regional security issues and achieving long-term stability, and that every country should independently pursue a development path suited to its own history, culture, and national conditions.
-- The two sides have continuously advanced mutual understanding and bilateral friendship through art exhibitions, academic exchanges, youth programs, as well as media and think tank forums.
Tian Wenlin, a professor of Renmin University of China, told Xinhua recently that China's call for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and its rejection of the "Clash of Civilizations" theory have resonated across the Arab world. ■
