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| Volume XI, Winter 2004, Number 4 |
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| EXCERPT: Sino-Arab Relations: New Developments And Trends |
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| Jin Liangxiang |
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Mr. Jin is a research fellow with the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS).
Historically, there have been no
significant rifts between China
and the Arab world; both sides
share common views on a number of international questions. Yet Sino-Arab relations have been relatively cold since the 1980s. With the center of its domestic agenda shifting from politics to the economy, China attaches more importance to its relations with great powers, the United States in particular, and towards its peripheral regions, building a favorable environment for domestic economic development. As a result, China's investments in the Middle East have been greatly reduced both politically and economically. However, a number of recent developments indicate that, after two decades of relative chill, Sino-Arab relations are beginning to warm up again. This is well illustrated in a host of recent high-level bilateral exchanges.
HEAD-OF-STATE VISITS
The recent round of high-level exchanges started with Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit from January 26 to February 5, 2004, to Egypt, Algeria and the Arab League as one part of his Europe-Africa tour. Both Egypt and Algeria are of special importance in the history of Sino-Arab relations. Egypt was the first Arab state to establish diplomatic relations with China (1956); the rest of the Arab states followed Cairo's lead from the middle 1950s through the 1960s. Algeria was one of three countries that put forward the proposal for the reinstatement of China's permanent membership in the UN Security Council in 1971. President Hu's visit demonstrated that the new Chinese leadership attaches great importance to Sino-Arab relations.
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