A forum was recently held on the Chinese Belt and Road initiative in the Chinese capital Beijing. In a continuation of the economic diplomacy of China, another event that gathered Chinese and Arab representatives together, the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, was held from 22-23 May. This article aims to shed light on the history of the forum and on how both parties can rely on it to form coherent policies, deepen practical cooperation, and enhance the chances of benefiting from the resources available to each other. Relations between China and the Arab states date back more than 2,000 years, when China and the Arab states were linked through the Asian Silk Roads. Over this long history, relations were characterised by peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, a win-win relationship and mutual benefits. Both China and the Arab states are today at an important development stage, and both have a common mission to rejuvenate their nations. China is also now the largest developing country in the world and is working hard to realise the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, i.e. to build a strong, prosperous, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious modern country. China is committed to maintaining the banner of peace, development and win-win cooperation. On the other hand, the Arab states are located in the region where the African and Asian continents converge and are characterised by unique resources and great potential for development. At the moment, the Arab states are exploring their paths of development independently according to their own national circumstances. Furthermore, the Arab states are committed to pursuing industrialisation, creating employment opportunities and improving the standard of living of their peoples. Most importantly, the Arab states are serious about promoting peace and stability in their region and playing actives roles on the international level. China and the Arab states have a dynamic cooperation of two-fold economic and political dimensions in which they are the two sides of the same coin. Traditionally healthy political relations usually lead to good economic relations, and economic and trade relations are the barometer of political relations. In the political dimension, both China and the Arab states perceive each other as a reliable political force in the new century. China has never colonised or conquered any Arab state and has maintained good relations with all the Arab countries. The Arab states welcome the Chinese emphasis on its “four-nos” foreign policy that includes non-alignment, non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, no political conditions attached to offering aid, and no foreign military bases abroad. The Arab states are also reliable in the sense that in 1956 Egypt was the first Arab country to have full diplomatic relations with China, and in 1990 the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the last. Almost none of the 22 Arab states have ever acknowledged Taiwan as an independent entity. In brief, the political relations between China and the Arab states can be characterised as policy flexible and zero-problem. Regarding the economic dimension, China and the Arab states are essential partners that maintain a good momentum of economic and trade ties in which mutual trust between the two sides has lent a strong and positive impetus to trade and economic relations. All 22 Arab states are considered economic beachheads for China, since they stand on the strategic corridors connecting Central Asia, South Asia, Africa and Europe. Therefore, China can expand its economic presence in Africa and Europe through the Arab states. COOPERATION FORUM: Since its establishment on 30 January 2004, the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum has been steadily moving forward towards its target of strengthening and deepening Sino-Arab relations. More than a decade into the forum's history, the Sino-Arab relationship has now been upgraded to a strategic partnership. Despite the fact that the forum is still not very well known, it represents a significant endeavour over recent years to strengthen relations between China and the Arab states. Most of the Arab states consider China to be a successful economic development model that is worth emulating. In the Arab world, China is widely looked on as a country that has charted its own unique path towards economic development and modernisation. While the Arab states see China as a strategic partner beyond traditional trade and business activities, China, from its side, is willing to offer development funding and investment opportunities without interference in matters related to political reforms and human rights in the Arab states, as some Western countries have done. The roots of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum emerged in January 1999 when the then Chinese foreign minister and the then secretary-general of the Arab League signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a political consultation mechanism between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and the secretariat of the Arab League. On 26 December 2001, the then secretary-general of the Arab League Amr Moussa proposed during a meeting with Chinese foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan the establishment of a cooperation forum. During a visit to Cairo on 21 April 2002, the then Chinese premier informed the secretary-general that China was strongly interested in establishing the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. Due to the fact that China was giving cooperation with the Arab states its due importance, while visiting Cairo on 30 January 2004 the then Chinese president Hu Jintao visited the headquarters of the Arab League and confirmed his willingness to establish a partnership between China and the Arab states under four key principles: to promote political relations based upon mutual respect; to increase trade and economic exchanges with the goal of common development; to expand cultural exchanges by learning from each other; and to strengthen cooperation on the international level to maintain world peace and promote common development. In September 2004, the Chinese foreign minister and the secretary-general of the Arab League signed two documents: the Declaration of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and the Action Programme of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. How should we evaluate the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum on the one hand and the China-Egypt relationship on the other? Let's start with the framework in which China is looking to deepen its future relations with the Arab states. On the margins of the sixth ministerial meeting of the Arab-Chinese Cooperation Forum in June 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his opening statement that in order to promote the Belt and Road both the Arab and Chinese parties should be far-sighted and stand on solid ground. President Xi clarified that “far-sighted” meant formulating an optimal framework, clearly determining goals and directions, and setting out a framework of cooperation called “1+2+3”. Number 1 means cooperation in the field of energy, cementing a series of oil and gas industry deals and maintaining the safety of transmitting energy. Number 2 means two wings, one for building infrastructure and the other for facilitating trade and investment. Through the Belt and Road both the Arabs and the Chinese can enhance cooperation in development projects and establish the institutional arrangements to facilitate trade and investment between the two parties. Number 3 means the advanced technologies of nuclear power and renewable energy. In this regard, the Arab nations and China can jointly establish the Arab-Chinese Centre for Technology Transfer. President Xi used the concept of “standing on solid ground” to confirm the need to see the fruit of the relationship in the shortest possible time. Speeches should be followed by action, as the Arab proverb says. In this respect, the Chinese president called for the acceleration of negotiations on a free-trade zone between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, a joint investment fund between China and the United Arab Emirates, and the participation of the Arab countries in the Asian Bank for Infrastructure. The Chinese president, during a meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, promised that China would train approximately 6,000 people in different specialties and exchange visits of 10,000 Chinese and Arab artists to enhance communication between both sides. Furthermore, 200 Chinese-Arab cultural institutions would also exchange visits, he said. The establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum was thus a strategic choice to enhance sustained, long-term China-Arab relations. The forum should be considered a cornerstone in cementing relations between China and the Arab world, particularly since the Chinese seek to create and maintain relations that are beneficial for China and other parties. EGYPT AND CHINA: Egypt and China belong to the most ancient and prosperous civilisations in the world, leading some to say that both China and Egypt are members of a prestigious “cultural club”. They have long worked together on the commercial and cultural levels. Egypt was the first Arab and African state to establish diplomatic relation with China on 30 May 1956. Since their inception, relations between Egypt and China have been an example of ideal relations between two states, and they have developed continuously in all areas over the last six decades. The relationship between Egypt and China took a turning point in April 1999 when both countries agreed to establish strategic cooperation on a bilateral and international level. On a bilateral level, both states committed themselves to expanding their economic and commercial relations, to integrating the comparative advantages available to each of them in a manner that would enable each to be a strategic partner in economic and trade, to accelerating work in the private economic zones in the North-West Suez Gulf, and to supporting and enhancing cooperation in agricultural, industrial, scientific and technological fields and tourism. On the international level, the two states agreed on establishing a fair international political and economic system and on reducing the gap between the developed and developing nations. The key features of Egypt-China cooperation are its stable pace, continuity, diversity and ambition. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi has visited China three times since coming to power, something that reflects the importance of China to Egypt. Egypt is keen to encourage and increase Chinese investment in Egypt and to expand the activities of Chinese companies working in communication and information technology when Egypt is seeking to establish a “smart village” using Chinese expertise in this respect. Economic relations between the two countries are rapidly growing, and both countries worked jointly to implement the recent Suez Canal Corridor Project. On the sidelines of President Xi's visit to Egypt last year, the two sides signed an MoU on the joint implementation of the Belt and Road initiative. Furthermore, as Egypt is presently working hard to develop infrastructure and industry, China has a comparative advantage in the fields of electricity, ports, transportation and construction. The two sides have agreed on cooperation projects worth $10 billion. Most importantly, China and Egypt have agreed to exchange their local currencies to the value of 18 billion Chinese yuan over three years. In the cultural domain, the Chinese-Egyptian Cultural Year was held to promote people-to-people interaction between the two sides. While the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum is a strategic partnership between both sides, and each is sincerely bound by the framework of the forum and even the enhancements and activities to be added to it in future, we in the Arab world in general and in Egypt in particular should focus on what lessons we can learn from China's experience in development. Of course, the Chinese experience is by all means a miracle, though a human one attained by a serious society and not a heavenly miracle. Therefore, the Arab states can replicate the Chinese experience based on their own circumstances, if they so wish. LESSONS TO LEARN: In 2002, the Cairo publisher Dar Al-Maaref in its monthly cultural series published a valuable booklet entitled China through Egyptian Eyes. The book, whose editor is a former ambassador of Egypt to China, Mohamed Noeman Galal, referred to some features of the Chinese experience of economic development. First, the colour of a cat, whether white or black, does not matter as long as it catches a mouse. In other words, goals are the most important thing, not means, ie what matters is content, not shape. When opening up and reforming the country, former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the architect of the Chinese miracle, introduced “communism with Chinese characteristics”, being a form of communism that is not rigid or simply a form of dialectical philosophy, but one that aims to achieve economic development and raise the standard of living of its people, whether through state-owned companies or through joint partnerships or through the private sector. National capital or foreign capital, direct or indirect investment, foreign companies, consortiums, or trans-continental companies — all this does not matter as long as the goal is achieved at the end of the day. Chinese communism is thus communism in terms of goals but capitalism in terms of content. In short, it tries to use capitalist management techniques to achieve communist goals. In this regard, there is no problem in shutting down factories that suffer losses and firing workers if this is the only way to reform, taking into account that reform of this sort will create new jobs. Introducing technology will double production and firing unskilled workers will push them to retrain to find new work that meets their new skills and enables them to raise their standard of living. The starting point according to China's experience in reform is “reforming administrative thinking and applying it decisively in the economic field on capitalist principles”. This means providing a job or firing a worker according to production needs. Accordingly, both the worker and the manager will, with an increase in production, try to find markets for their goods, since otherwise factories will shut down and both manager and worker will lose their jobs. To cut a long story short, there are continuing efforts in China to distribute production. The trader accepts less profit; the worker accepts less wages; and the manager has wider authority for reward and punishment. There is a force behind the scenes in contact with the party system, cadres and philosophy that manages it all. Second, there is a continuing process of learning in China, taking into account that science and knowledge continuously develop. Graduating from university, obtaining a doctorate, or being a minister are not the ends of management in a permanently changing environment. All cadres in China join the party school at different stages and different periods. This teaches them economics, politics, philosophy, communist thinking, practical experience and new practices, all to enable them to deal efficiently with new and changing circumstances. In other words, there is a constant line of thinking that everyone in China should abide by: communism with Chinese characteristics as it has been referred to. The Egyptian experience of development during the 1960s and 1970s was totally different from the Chinese. In the Egyptian case, those who implemented the socialist philosophy of the 1960s had basically been liberals before the 1952 Revolution, while those who adopted the Open Door policy in the 1970s had basically been brought up on planned economy thinking. Therefore, in the Egyptian case neither socialism nor capitalism achieved their goals simply because those in charge were implementing economic principles that they were not fully aware of or at least did not have a strong belief in. In short, in the Egyptian case the managers changed their clothes but never changed their thinking. In the Chinese case, on the other hand, policies are implemented by people who believe in what they are doing. Third, “explore the depth of the water before crossing the river” is a classic Chinese proverb that has been adopted as a guide in applying economic policy in today's China. The key characteristic of such thinking is the necessity to carefully examine feasibility studies of projects based on complete and correct information, in addition to setting out the legal and administrative framework before implementation. CHINESE SECRETS: Based upon these three features of the Chinese experience, we can sum up the secrets of the state that leads the global economy today. It can be attributed to several factors, including, first, the production and export of Chinese goods of various qualities to global markets: high quality to developed countries that prefer quality regardless of price, and low quality to developing countries where price is important regardless of quality. Second, there is a high level of technology in the goods exported in order to diversify markets and limit the impact of any global economic crisis. Third, there is the allocation of huge investment on infrastructure, where transportation and telecommunications play a crucial role in attracting investment. Fourth, there is increasing the role of tourism in activating the economy, pushing development and overcoming the downturn. In this respect, both foreign and domestic tourism are given due attention. Domestic tourism is a substitute for foreign tourism if the latter encounters difficulties. The Chinese in January, May and October of each year move from west to east and from north to south in their country in order to support the economy and increase the awareness of the citizens of their nation. Fifth, there is expanding consumption credit to increase the volume of the domestic market and distribute production in a manner that increases production and raises the standard of living. Sixth, there is a sharp credit policy where failing companies announce bankruptcy as do inefficient financing institutions. No other financial institutions lend a helping hand as the basic criterion is taking the right economic decision, not protecting people who are unable to take such decisions. In conclusion, the crystal-clear fact is that the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum is an example of South-South cooperation and is based upon sincere and confident strategic cooperation between China and the Arab states. Most importantly, it has introduced and will introduce great potential in future for both sides. Since its establishment, the forum has opened many avenues of communication: ministerial and senior official meetings; business and investment conferences; and seminars in the economic, political, cultural and humanistic fields. Furthermore, the forum is fully bound by its basic principles of mutual respect, mutually beneficial cooperation, and common development. For the Arab countries in general and Egypt in particular, China is a successful model of development that is moving at a swift and stable pace towards comprehensive development. It is high time that the Arabs looked east to diversify their scope of movement and maintain balanced relations in a multipolar international system. The China-Arab States Cooperation Forum is a historic opportunity that both sides should utilise properly and efficiently. It should be crystal clear that relations with China are not restricted to economic ties, but should also extend to military, cultural and political matters. In the coming years, the forum can play a crucial role in strengthening cooperation and deepening strategies, focusing on innovation in its content, forms, and ways of cooperation in order to be able to deal with new challenges and potential. The writer is an international trade expert in charge of anti-dumping policy at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. He writes in a personal capacity.
