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Doha/Information Office/ 12 May 2016/ The Seventh Session of the Ministerial Meeting of the Arab -Chinese Cooperation Forum held under the chairmanship of Foreign Affairs Ministers of the State of Qatar and the People's Republic of China concluded here today. Qatar's Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said the meeting was part of a series of ongoing meetings between the Arab States and the Peoples Republic of China within the framework of continuous development of relations, historical friendship and cooperation between the two sides. Speaking at a joint press conference with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and the Arab League Secretary General Dr. Nabil Elaraby, HE Qatar's Foreign Minister said the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere, where steps that have been made in the process of joint cooperation between the Chinese and Arab sides were reviewed along with the exchange of perspectives on them in a spirit of openness and transparency, to emphasize the importance of deepening the strategic relations of cooperation, and promote the civilization and culture of the Arab and Chinese exchanges. HE the Minister noted that the meeting had dealt with the achievements made in the field of joint cooperation .. and said "The ambitions are still great to realize more achievements in light of the Arab States and China considerable capacities and potentials to open new horizons for this cooperation and investment, as that serves our common interests.", he added. HE Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that both Doha Declaration and the Executive Program for the years 2016-2018 had been unanimously approved , noting that these documents contain a number of items that reflect the shared visions that addressed the areas of Sino-Arab cooperation in various political, economic, cultural and scientific fields. HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani added that the meeting discussed the vision of Chinese President on the issue of building the " Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century, so as to strengthen cooperation in traditional areas such as energy, economy and trade, investment, infrastructure, and that the Arab countries were naturally partners in such a project. HE the Minister added that the State of Qatar was one of the first countries that supported the "Belt and Road" initiative proposed by the Chinese President, stressing that the Qatari - Chinese are carefully supported by the efforts of the leadership of the two countries, which are constant in all economic and political spheres, especially in energy, culture, sports and environment fields. Asked about the main outcomes of the session, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said participants spoke positively about partnership between the Arab world and China in light of the tangible results in bilateral relationships thanks to the previous sessions. In this regard, HE the minister said China has launched its vision towards Arab countries in January during an address for the Chinese president on the sidelines of his visit to the Arab League, in which he called for a strategic relationship between the two sides in several fields such as energy, environment, culture and economy. HE the foreign minister said the two sides are very much satisfied about the level of their relationship, which, he added, was obvious during the meeting, expressing hope towards further cooperation in the future in line with the Doha declaration and the executive program. As for HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani's meeting with the Chinese foreign minister yesterday, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said it was friendly and came as part of the Chinese minister's visit to Qatar as a bilateral visit or in terms of taking part in the forum. HE the minister added that HH the Emir has directed for developing the partnership between Qatar and China, noting that HH the Emir's visit to China in 2014 contributed to promoting ties between the two countries to a strategic level. He pointed to the increasing commercial exchange between the two countries and the Chinese side's contribution to the Qatari sectors of infrastructure, energy, and petrochemicals, hoping for more cooperation between the two friendly countries. HE the foreign minister stressed that Qatar is one of the first partners of the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative as well as a founding partner of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. For his part, China's Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi stressed the importance of the outcomes of the seventh session of the Forum on Arab Cooperation - China, which he described as fruitful, and coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of relations between China and Arab world .. He reiterated his country's keenness to strengthen relations with the Arab countries in various fields. He explained that the meeting stressed the importance of cooperation and partnership and to protect "our vital interests and our rights, nationalism, and the strengthening of interdependence and cooperation in energy, industry and humanitarian fields, which he considered the axis involved to build Belt and the Road as "The Arab world is located at the crossroads of the Silk Road economic belt" areas. The Chinese foreign minister announced that his country will provide special loans to support the industrial sector in the Middle East worth $ 15 billion to support Arab projects in the oil and gas, automotive industries, building materials, renewable energy and other industries .. He pointed out that the Arab and Chinese sides agreed to continue to strengthen the forum mechanism, and good implementation of what contained in the executive program of cooperation in the 36 area. He added that among the most prominent priorities were to establish a dialogue between the Chinese and Arab civilizations, convening of a business conference a forum of cooperation in the field of energy, and a forum media cooperation, as well as the friendship and art festivals, holding a special radio and television forum, health forums and other . He stressed China's firm support and efforts to ease tensions in the region through political dialogue. The Chinese foreign minister said the Arab countries reiterated support for China's sovereignty and territorial integrity .. while the Chinese side reiterated its support of the right of the Arab nation to defend its rights and legitimate interests and efforts of international protection for the Palestinian people in the occupied territories .. stressing the vision of his country calling for dialogue to contain the political hot-button issues. In answer to a question by Qatar News Agency (QNA) on China's initiatives to end the conflict situation and hotbeds of tension in the Arab region, the Chinese Foreign Minister said "that China has projects for all the hot issues around the region", pointing out that the Chinese president during his visit to the Arab League last January gave important remarks about China's policy and position toward the Arab region . The two sides had held a concluding session for the forum in which they reiterated the success of the seventh edition and the importance of what the Doha declaration and the executive program for 2016-18 included, stressing the importance of working and implementing the two documents. HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani stressed the success of the forum's seventh session, saying that it reflects the mutual trust between the two sides and their keenness on deepening the strategic cooperation ties on all fronts so as to achieve the common interests. He added that linking the Arab-Chinese interests will help in enhancing the unity of stances in order to handle the regional and international issues and cooperate in facing the political and economic challenges as well as environment and climate changes. In turn, the Chinese foreign minister called for moving forward in order to consolidate ties and carry on with the political traditions of both sides, highlighting the global political and economic challenges, which he considered an opportunity to enhance cooperation and the Arab-Chinese partnership. He added that the meeting agreed to reach political solutions for the different regional crises, highlighting in the same context the Chinese-Qatari ties and hoping for more cooperation and partnerships in all domains. For his part, the Arab League Secretary General Dr. Nabil Elaraby stressed that the Doha declaration and the executive program serve the mutual interests of both sides, particularly the activities and events that should be held over the next two years, which, he said, constitutes a strong push towards the deepening of strategic cooperation ties in the different fields, especially energy, technology, investment and infrastructure. The previous editions at the ministerial level were held in Cairo in 2004, Beijing in 2006, Manama in 2008, Tianjin in 2010, Hammamet in 2012 and Beijing in 2014.