UPGRADING RELATIONS BETWEEN CHINA AND ARAB STATES WITHIN FRAMEWORK OF BELT AND ROAD

SUN DEGANG

Research Fellow, Middle East Institute, Shanghai International Studies University

ZHANG DANDAN

From Middle East Institute, Shanghai International Studies University

The Arab world, located at the junction of Europe, Asia and Africa, and having access to the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and even the Atlantic Ocean, is a convergence zone of the Belt and Road. Since 2014,relations between China and Arab states have been scaling new heights every two years. In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the 6th Ministerial Meeting of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and proposed to build the Belt and Road Initiative together with the Arab world through a “1+2+3” cooperation framework, which means, both sides will take energy cooperation as the main body, infrastructure building and trade & investment facilitation as two wings, and nuclear energy, space satellite and new energy as three new breakthroughs. The Chinese government in January 2016 released the first “China’s Arab Policy Paper”, and then President Xi Jinping paid successful state visits to Saudi Arabia and Egypt; President Xi Jinping on July 10, 2018 attended the 8th Ministerial Meeting of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, where China and Arab states agreed to build a “strategic partnership”, an upgraded version of their cooperation. President Xi on July 19 of the same year visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has been the first stop of a Chinese head of state’s foreign visit after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC).

China has now established comprehensive strategic partnerships with Algeria (in 2014), Egypt (in 2014), Saudi Arabia (in 2016) and the UAE (in 2018),and established strategic partnerships with Qatar (in 2014), Jordan (in 2015),Iraq (in 2015), Morocco (in 2016), Sudan(in 2016), Djibouti (in 2017) and Oman (in 2018). In terms of development strategy coordination, cooperation fields expansion, governance experience exchange and policy coordination. Relations between China and Arab States have been upgraded from regional strategic cooperation in 2010 to global strategic partnership today.

China and Arab States have Furthered Development Strategy Coordination

The Arab world is an important partner for China’s cooperation with the Middle East and Africa. For two thousand years, the Chinese nation and the Arab nation have been at ends of the“Ancient Silk Road” like two giants, and made important contributions to the progress of human civilization. Since the establishment of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in 2004, China-Arab relations have experienced a seven-year period of steady development and the other seven-year period of change. (The latter mainly refers to the period after the “Arab Spring” in 2011).

At present, the Arab world has divided into three camps. The first camp refers to stable countries, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar,Morocco, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait and other monarchy countries; the second camp refers to transitional countries,such as Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, the Republic of Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon, Tunisia and other republics; and the third camp refers to those that suffer from turmoil and instability, like Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Libya and other war-torn countries.Despite differences of these three camps in political systems and stages of development, they start to draw lessons and gradually make it a priority to upgrade infrastructure, expand employment and improve people’s livelihood.

Both China and Arab States are developing countries, with their population accounting for a quarter of the world’s total, and both taking economic diversity, infrastructure construction and improvement of people’s livelihood as pri-orities. As it now advances towards the goal of the “Two Centenaries” written in the report to the 19th CPC National Congress, China has signed the Belt and Road construction agreements with nine Arab States, namely Saudi Arabia,Sudan, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco, and signed deals of capacity cooperation with the UAE, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Egypt. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt are also founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) initiated by China.

The Belt and Road Initiative is highly coordinated with development strategies of some Arab States, like Egypt’s“Economic Revitalization Plan”, the“2030 Vision” of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain,Jordan’s “2025 Vision”, Algeria’s “2035 Vision”, the “Hi-tech City Construction Plan” of Morocco, and Iraq’s “157 Major Reconstruction Plans”. The Belt and Road Initiative has promoted policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds between China and the Arab world and helped enrich the “1+2+3” cooperation.

Based on similar development strategies, China and Arab States have actively carried out policy coordination on the Belt and Road Initiative, with clear top-level design goals and steady strategic cooperation. The China-Arab States Cooperation Forum has become an important platform for China’s overall diplomacy for Arab countries. Following the principle of “achieving shared benefits through consultation and collaboration”, China supports the Arab States to play as a bridge in the building of the Belt and Road Initiative and support the interconnectivity among Arab States.

On Oct. 11th, 2017, the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) has finalized a US$3 billion-deal with the Egyptian Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development to build a Central Business District in Egypt’s new administrative capital. The picture shows the Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi attending the deal signing ceremony.

China and Arab States have Expanded Cooperation Fields

China and Arab States account for one-eighth of the world’s total economic output, and have similar development demands in the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Group 20,the AIIB and the International Energy Agency Program. Therefore it becomes the common mission of China and Arab states to safeguard the discourse power of developing countries in international multilateral organizations. After development of 14 years, the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum keeps improving. China has become the second largest trading partner of the Arab States, and the largest trading partner of ten of these countries.

Since the 21st century, China-Arab states cooperation has gone through three stages. The first stage (from 2000 to 2013) was mainly based on energy cooperation; Secondly, after the 6th Ministerial Meeting of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in 2014, China-Arab states cooperation centered on “1+2+3”framework, with energy cooperation as the main body, infrastructure building and trade & investment facilitation as two wings, and nuclear energy, space satellite and new energy as three new breakthroughs; and thirdly, since 2018,China-Arab cooperation has been more comprehensive, with economic and trade, as well as security cooperation in bilateral and multilateral forms. High complementarities in trade and mutual benefit have become the guarantee of China-Arab strategic partnership.

Despite significant differences in political system, ideology and cultural traditions, China and Arab states share common aspirations in improving their people’s livelihood, developing the economy, and creating more jobs. With a population of more than 300 million and a high natural growth rate, especially with a high percentage of youth population since those under the age of 30 account for 65% to 70% of the total population, Arab countries are under great pressure to improve their people’s livelihood. The Belt and Road Initiative offers a strategic opportunity for Arab countries to upgrade their industry. “Interconnectivity” is one of the important fields in improving China-Arab cooperation, and promoting policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and peopleto-people bonds is an important means to realize bilateral goals. The industrial upgrading of the Arab States, especially given the fact that countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria and Morocco propose a strategy of boosting diversified economic development and reducing dependence on any single-product economy, has provided favorable conditions for China and Arab states to expand cooperation.

China-Arab economic and trade cooperation will expand into many more areas in the future. First, cooperation on traditional energy and new energy,such as oil, natural gas, nuclear energy,solar energy, low-carbon green energy,and focus on “energy+” framework.Second, cooperation on infrastructure,including roads, ports, smart citiesetc,industrial parks and hi-tech cities etc.China-Arab cooperation on infrastructure is conducted in a variety of forms,such as the central port of Algeria,Egypt’s the 10th of Ramadan City and fiberglass production lines, the expanded construction of Mauritania’s Friendship Port, Morocco’s “Muhammad VI Bridge”, Attarat Power Plant, a planned oil shale-fueled power plant of Jordan,Oman’s Sugar Independent Power Station and Duqm Industrial Park, Sudan’s Dam Complex of Upper Atbara, the second phase of the Khalifa Port Container Terminal of the United Arab Emirates,and China-Saudi industrial cluster.Third, cooperation on high-tech field,like aerospace, bio-pharmaceuticals,new materials, “Internet +”, artificial intelligence, big data, e-commerce, and joint laboratories. China has helped Algeria and Egypt launch satellites,and cooperated with Saudi Arabia to explore the moon and Mercury, which is the continuation and expansion of“China-Arab Air Silk Road”. And fourth,cooperation on finance, including the internationalization of the RMB. For example, China has established a RMB overseas clearing center in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, and encouraged the AIIB and the Silk Road Fund to cooperate with the Gulf National Sovereign Wealth Fund and Chinese stateowned banks to set up more branches in the Arab states. Looking forward to the future, we believe that China and Arab states will have broader cooperation with more diversified results during the process of building the Belt and Road Initiative.

In terms of national governance capabilities, China and Arab states are both“young countries”built on ancient civilizations.

China and Arab states have Conducted Closer Governance Exchanges

In terms of national governance capabilities, China and Arab states are both “young countries” built on ancient civilizations. They both experienced historical glories and were once reduced to colonies or semi-colonies in the modern times after the rapid development of Western Industrial Revolution. Like China, Arab states are emerging developing countries that won independent after the World War I or World War II, and they both are exploring development paths that are suited to their own national conditions. At the same time, both China and Arab states face daunting tasks of reform, development and stability, so they need to exchange ideas on fields like industrial upgrading, food security,infrastructure, monetary policy, financial risk prevention and environmental protection, and on how to boost youth employment, address social differences and improve national building capacity.Their exchanges of national governance experience are of great significance to realize South-South Cooperation, UN poverty relief and safeguarding political stability in developing world.

First of all, the Chinese government has accumulated certain experience in poverty alleviation, desertification prevention, targeted assistance, special economic zones building, investment attraction, compulsory education, regional national autonomy, food security and youth development, which will be helpful for Arab states. The China-Arab Reform and Development Research Center has been established in Shanghai International Studies University while Morocco is home to Overseas Traditional Chinese Medicine Center of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. China-Arab Beidou System/Global Navigation Satellite System Centre has been set up in Tunisia. There are also China-Arab Technology Transfer Center, Training Center for Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy and Training Center for Clean Energy, which have been important platforms for both sides to exchange experience on national governance. In addition, in order to support Middle East countries to boost their industrial development, China sets up a special loan of 15 billion US dollars and a preferential loan of 10 billion US dollars, as well as a mutual investment fund of 20 billion US dollar with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Secondly, Arab states’ successful experience are valuable for China too, even if any single Arab state is not comparable to China in terms of economy size or population. For example, the UAE in recent years has gotten rid of dependence on a single-product economy by way of developing finance, tourism and entity economy, which makes it a role model for developing countries to learn from. As a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the UAE has long followed the path of moderate Islam, kept pace with the times and made technological and management innovation. Its per capita GDP has surpassed Europe and the United States,which helps boost the Islamic world and the Muslim people’s confidence on development. The UAE is the first to realize economic diversification and get rid of dependence on energy exports. In particular, Dubai’s experience in developing free trade zones provides some reference to China.

In addition, China has within its due capacities, helped Arab states improve their governance abilities. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in July 2018 that China would provide humanitarian and reconstruction assistance of 600 million RMB to the peoples of Syria,Yemen, Jordan and Lebanon; China would give 100 million RMB of free aid to Palestine so that it can develop economy and improve its people’s life;and China would discuss with regional related countries about a program of one billion RMB to improve their ability of maintaining national stability.

In the new era, China and Arab states share similar governance concepts.They both advocate stability through development and oppose hegemonism,trade protectionism, populism, terrorism, separatism and extremism. China and Arab states have conducted fruitful exchange of experience in resolving conflicts in the Middle East, safeguarding the safety of maritime passages,establishing a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, opposing bullying the weak or the small, strengthening humanitarian relief, and advocating collective dialogue. All of these have made China and Arab states become important partners for each other.

China and Arab States have Conducted More Frequent Policy Coordination

Policy coordination between China and Arab states can serve as a role model for countries of different political systems to seek common ground, set aside differences and secure common benefit. Some Arab states like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan broke off diplomatic relations with Iran in 2016; Saudi Arabia, together with the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, severed diplomatic relations with Qatar in 2017.Relations among Arab states have been tense because of sectarian conflicts,the interference of Western power and geopolitical competitions. In principle of non-interference into others’ internal affairs, China calls for Arab states to improve unity, and helps ease tension in the Middle East by pragmatically boosting economic and trade cooperation and advocating regional economic integration, and strengthening policy coordination with different Arab states.

China and Arab states have seen increasingly frequent policy coordination in recent years, and both sides have tried to have a larger say and influence in regional and global affairs. The two sides have conducted full coordination and communication in terms of global security governance, crisis management, conflict resolution, anti-terrorism,anti-piracy, nuclear non-proliferation,UN peacekeeping and Middle East refugee governance; when it comes to hotspot issues of Syria, Yemen, Libya,Palestine, refugees, pirates and antiterrorism, both sides have conducted frequent communication on multilateral platforms like the the UN General Assembly, the Security Council and mechanisms of arms control, disarmament and Geneva Talks.

Political mutual trust is the basis for China and Arab states to conduct policy communication. China is one of the builders of peace and development in the Middle East and willing to play a positive role in promoting regional peace and stability. China has long supported the just cause of the Palestinian people and advocated the establishment of a Palestinian state with full sovereignty and independence based on the 1967 border lines and with East Jerusalem as its capital, and supported the peace process of the Middle East based on the “two-state solution” and the “Arab Peace Initiative”. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in July 2018 that in the next three years, China would invite 100 innovative youth leaders, 200 young scientists and 300 scientific and technical professionals from Arab states, as well as 100 religious figures and 600 political leaders to visit China, offer 10,000 training quotas of various kinds for Arab states, and send 500 medical staff members to Arab states. All of these efforts will help further enhance China-Arab strategic mutual trust.

China has played the role of a fair mediator in the Middle East and has won widespread recognition and appreciation in the Arab world. Arab countries also actively support China on issues involving China’s sovereignty,security and development, such as the Taiwan issue, the South China Sea issue,combating the “East Turkistan” forces,and safeguarding the safety of overseas Chinese. Strengthening policy coordination between China and Arab states will help promote the reform of the global governance system, build a community with a shared future for mankind and explore new paths and models of cooperation.

Conclusion

The Middle East is a region where global security issues are concentrated.Traditional and non-traditional security issues as well as domestic and international security issues, like geopolitical games, regional leadership disputes,ethnic differences, sectarian conflicts,proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, separatism and refugees, are intertwined here, and as a result, Middle East states are caught in a grave security dilemma. After the dramatic changes in the Middle East in 2011, Arab states entered a period of“fragmentation”, and the League of Arab States saw its capacity as a single international actor greatly undermined.However, multilateral cooperation mechanism between China and Arab states have thrived against the trend.China has set up many major projects in Arab states, which produces a good demonstrative effect.

In the new era, major countries outside the region all attach great importance to the relations with the Arab world. But their concepts of international cooperation are different. The United States, Europe, and Russia pursue traditional concept of security and try to achieve absolute security through building military alliances, developing armaments, and cultivating proxies, and so as to realize the winner-takes-all by block confrontation and military competition. But the result is that various states of the Middle East become even more insecure in the zero-sum game,and the escalating conflicts makes it difficult to achieve substantive progress in the Middle East peace process.

In its overall cooperation with Arab states, China advocates a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable“new concept on security”, and is willing to listen to and promote dialogue among various parties. It advocates“partners instead of allies”. China’s concept on development and security aims to address confrontation, and provide a new solution to the Middle East security governance, which embodies the country’s new concept and new practice of“promoting security through comprehensive governance, seeking security through diplomatic negotiation and advancing security through mutually beneficial cooperation”.