Interview: China works hard on jointly building a China-Arab community with a shared future, says Palestinian official

by Xinhua writers Liu Weijian, Sanaa Kamal

RAMALLAH, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- China has been working hard to consolidate relations with Arab countries and jointly build a China-Arab community with a shared future, a senior Palestinian official has said.

As the gateway to the West of the Silk Road, Arab countries have benefited a lot from China's initiative, Abbas Zaki, a member of the Palestinian Fatah Central Committee and commissioner for relations with Arab countries and China, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

In 2014, China proposed to build a China-Arab community with a shared future based on the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. Ever since, the two sides have conducted fruitful cooperation in the fields of economy, science, technology, agriculture, and education.

In 2018, China and Arab countries agreed to establish a "Sino-Arab future-oriented strategic partnership of comprehensive cooperation and common development."

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has sent medical teams and donated supplies to many Arab countries, including Palestine, to help them overcome the difficulties, which "vividly embodied the concept of a China-Arab community with a shared future," Zaki said.

"Unlike Western countries who seek hegemony, China has never intended to plunder the wealth and resources of the Arab world," said Zaki, noting that China's cooperation with Arab countries has always been based on mutual benefit and aims at achieving win-win results.

He also praised China's fair position on international affairs as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, saying that "the double standards of the United States and other Western countries on the Palestinian-Israeli conflicts in recent years have made the Palestinian issue gradually sidelined, while China has always stood firmly on the side of the just cause of the Palestinian people."

Arab countries hope to strengthen cooperation with China to seek solutions to regional issues, he added.

Zaki believes that the first China-Arab States Summit in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, will achieve fruitful results, which will have a positive impact on the Palestinian issue.