With their respective advantages, China and the Arab countries stand a great chance of achieving common development through cooperation. On the one hand, they are expected to put into practice all the existing programs in a coordinated manner. On the other hand, they should explore new ways and areas for their cooperation. Entrepreneurs, in particular, should ponder how to expand the trade links between China and the Arab countries.

One of the major stumbling blocks for across-the-board cooperation between China and the Arab countries is the lack of communication. While pursuing a proper solution to this problem, we should see to it that each other’s different views are always understood and respected. China and the Arab countries are expected to improve their political and economic consultation mechanism with enhanced mutual trust so that they can develop long-term plans for cooperation in a pragmatic manner. More dialogue and exchanges need to be conducted at different levels in various areas.

The role of the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum should be given full play. Within this framework, more mechanisms aimed at pragmatic cooperation should be established. They could take small steps at first and gradually move onto big, demanding tasks. In addition to the forum, other forms of cooperation, such as cooperation between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council and bilateral cooperation between China and the Arab countries, should be fully exploited.

In the academic community, more research should be carried out on each other’s culture. Although the Chinese and Arabs are both “Oriental,” their civilizations are glaringly different. They also differ from each other in their thinking patterns, living customs, interests and personalities. Scholars are expected to study these differences and inform the public about their findings in the spirit of enhancing understanding between the Chinese and Arab peoples. This initiative is crucial, as promoting dialogue, exchanges and cooperation between civilizations is believed to be a shared mission of human-kind in the 21st century.

The author is vice president of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Jordan