In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Your Excellency Mr. Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the friendly People's Republic of China,
Your Excellency Dr. Nabil Al-Araby, Secretary-General of the Arab League,
Distinguished Foreign Ministers, Heads of delegations for the brotherly Arab nations,
Esteemed guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, it pleases me to welcome you to the State of Qatar, and to express my utmost thanks and gratitude to the brotherly Republic of China for sustaining the Arab-Chinese Cooperation Forum which has proved to be a useful mechanism in international cooperation and in dialogues among different civilizations. Just as it pleases me to express my deep thanks to the esteemed foreign ministers of Arab nations, and to the heads of delegations of Arab nations that are participating, and to the Arab League, and the Arab League delegation, and to the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Beijing, for the important role that they are carrying out in order to deepen Arab-Chinese cooperation.
This forum represents a link in connecting the Arab and Chinese civilizations that have deep roots in history that reflect the eastern position vis-à-vis international relations, and from that point we have to increase and coordinate all efforts of importance to both sides to boost development, and address climate change. The Arab-Chinese relations have deepened and have reached a stage of strategic partnership and will continue to develop through upgrading cooperation in many fields. We here note the success achieved in implementing the programs of the 2014-2016 forum, where the visions of both sides became clear with regards to goals and strategic ends for the forum and this demonstrates the seriousness of our steps and our honest aspirations towards building cooperation and pushing it forward through supporting institutions, partner projects, and implementing development plans for the 2014-2016 Forum on Arab-Chinese Cooperation, and investing in the civilizational and historical relations between us as efficient partners to serve our interests and people.
Excellencies and distinguished guests,
The shared desire between Arab states and China in finding a successful mechanism for south-south cooperation, makes us hope that this forum represents a strong stimulus to speeding up the pace of sustainable development on a national level for both sides through greater efforts of capacity-building, expertise, technology and capital transfer as well as increasing the volume of trade exchange, creating opportunities for economic investment without ignoring the cultural exchanges. It is worth mentioning here that the size of the trade exchange between Arab countries and China in 2015 was estimated at $250 million.
The interrelation and interaction of the interests of the people reaffirm our solid belief of the importance of cooperation between countries and organizations to overcome economic challenges, and from that point comes the support of Arab countries to the initiative of His Excellency Jian-Bing in building "The Economic belt for the Silk Road" and building a sea silk road in the 21st century.
Excellencies and distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The importance of continued coordination and discussions among both sides require of us more work to consolidate international relations on the basis of mutual cooperation and solidarity, as part of our firm belief that fulfilling the interests of all parties to live in peace, stability, and development will not be realized lest through dialogue and through finding long-term just solutions for people's issues in accordance with international law. With that point in mind, realizing peace and stability in the Arab region represents a vital prerequisite for achieving worldwide peace and security, and this is what the international community must do in terms of its responsibilities to solve the most crucial issue in the Arab region, namely that of Palestine, in accordance with legal international legislations and the Arab Peace Initiative.
Hence, I would like to stress the helpful Chinese positions on Arab issues, at the forefront the Palestinian issue, and we look forward to the continued Chinese role in supporting just causes in order to realize peace in the Middle East on the basis of the norms and principles of international law and the United Nations declaration and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council ensuring the right of the Palestinian people to establish their own independent state based on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. We hope that China will continue to be steadfast on its positive positions with regards to the just Arab causes.
In this context, it is required from the international community to make great efforts to work on the Syrian crisis and its many complications to realize an encompassing political solution that ends the suffering of the brotherly Syrian people without military interventions in accordance with the Geneva resolutions (1) and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council which safeguards the unity, safety, and sovereignty of Syrian territory, and on the basis of the democratic path the brotherly Syrian people aspire for.
If fulfilling peace and stability in the world represents a noble goal for us all, then lessons learned from past experiments require the international community to focus its efforts on resolving conflicts and crises peacefully, and not through using violence and force which led to the rise of extremism and terror. On that point, we reiterate our rejection of all extremist views, and distance ourselves from conflicts on the basis of doctrinal and sectarian foundations, whether in our Arab region or elsewhere in the world.
Excellencies and distinguished guests,
The "Doha Declaration" brings together points that reflect the shared views towards all our interests, just as the implementation program of the forum on Arab-Chinese cooperation for 2014-2016 is considered an ambitious plan towards supporting relations between Arab states and China. There is no doubt that the declaration and program represents a real opportunity for paving the way and building more new shared strategies in different fields of political, economic, cultural, and scientific cooperation.
In conclusion, we hope that the proceedings of this forum succeed in fulfilling what the Arab and Chinese nations aspire for in terms of cooperation to achieve development and welfare for their people.
Peace be upon you and Allah's Mercy and His Blessings.