Investment Minister: HRH Crown Prince's Patronage of Arab-China Business Conference Highlights Arab World Leaders' Interest in Enhancing Ties with China

Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid Al-Falih said that His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister's patronage of the Arab-China Business Conference, today during the Kingdom's presidency of the Arab League, reflects the interest of Arab leaders in boosting Arab relations with China and expanding the base of successes in politics and diplomacy to include the fields of economy, investment and comprehensive development, in a bid to contribute to creating new opportunities for sustainable partnerships.

The minister expressed his appreciation and gratitude to HRH Crown Prince for sponsoring this major event and cited HRH Crown Prince as saying: "Our Arab world enjoys cultural, human and natural resources that qualify it to assume an advanced and leading position and achieve a comprehensive renaissance of our countries and peoples in all fields."
Al-Falih welcomed China's participation in this comprehensive "renaissance", which is heading toward growth and expansion, and is envisioned to create great opportunities for the next renaissance, and economic, trade and investment cooperation, adding that Arab countries will work with China to seize the opportunities available out of their belief in the need for broader integration of the economies of the two sides.

He added that China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) grew by 20% annually over the past decade, with the Arab world accounting for about $23 billion of the total. There is, however, potential to increase investment flows in the other direction, to take advantage of China's large and prosperous market, he said, adding that FDI volume in China in 2021 stood at some $3.6 trillion, 12% of which came from the Arab world.

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit stressed that the Kingdom's hosting of this conference is a continuation of its successful efforts since holding the Arab-Chinese Summit in 2022 in Riyadh, noting that the outcome of that summit gave a new impetus to Arab-Chinese cooperation in various fields.

Vice Chairman of CPPCC of China Hu Chunhua reiterated his country's readiness to work with Arab countries to implement the outcomes of the First China Arab Summit and build a higher level of strategic partnership. He said the strategic Sino-Arab partnership, which is constantly evolving thanks to the strategic guidance of Chinese and Arab leaders, has contributed to achieving good results over the past few years, and has become a model of cooperation among countries that help boost commercial and investment cooperation.

Source --SPA