China, Arab States to Hold First Oil Meeting -- china.org.cn

China and Arab states will hold their first meeting on oil issue between the year of 2006 and 2008, according to an action plan issued in Beijing Thursday.

The action plan was signed by Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and League of Arab States Secretary-general Amr Mahmoud Moussa during the second ministerial meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum.

The two sides vowed to establish a dialogue mechanism to further promote their energy cooperation. Under the mechanism, China and the Arab countries agree to increase visits and dialogue and coordinate in relevant activities of the United Nations and other international organizations.

"The two sides attach importance to energy cooperation, particularly the cooperation in the sectors of oil, natural gas and renewable energy," says the action plan.

The plan says China and the Arab countries will encourage their enterprises to enhance investment and set up joint ventures and conduct cooperation in exchanging experience and technology transfer in the energy sector.

The Arab countries have been China's largest crude oil supplier. China imported 55.36 million tons of crude oil from Arab countries in 2005, 43.7 percent of its total oil import.

Energy cooperation constitutes an important part of China-Arab cooperation, which complies with interests of both sides and contributes to the stability of international energy market, said Zhai Jun, the director general of Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asian and African division..

The two-day meeting was attended by delegates from China and 22 Arab countries, who also signed the meeting's communiqué, an environmental cooperation plan and a memorandum of understanding for a meeting between Chinese and Arab entrepreneurs.

According to these documents, Arab-China trade volume is expected to reach US$100 billion in 2010.

China's trade with the Arab world has grown tenfold in the past decade to hit 51.27 billion US dollars in 2005.

The third ministerial meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum will take place in Bahrain in 2008.

From 2006 to 2008, China will train 500 Arab professionals in various fields every year.

The second meeting between Chinese and Arab entrepreneurs will be held in Jordan. More activities include an Arab arts festival in Beijing, a China-Arab civilization dialogue seminar and a China-Arab friendship conference.

Foreign Minister Li said that the China-Arab Cooperation Forum has been the channel for China and Arab states to exchange views on international and regional issues.

"The just concluded meeting has injected new vitality into China-Arab substantive cooperation," Li said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2006)