[File Photo]

Ningxia is poised to serve as a center of trade and investment for the Arab world, a senior economic official said at a symposium focusing on the China-Arab States Economics and Trade Forum in Ningxia on July 30.

Wang Jiangmin, an official with Ningxia's development and reform commission, said Ningxia should use the forum as a platform to help build an open economy and strengthen cooperation with Arab countries.

"Xinjiang was granted two special zones, Kashgar and Horgos, at the beginning of this year - Ningxia needs to keep up," Wang said. "To achieve the goal Ningxia should set an example for the cooperation between China and Arab countries, be an important part of the modern Silk Road and the center of Muslim goods and Arabic investment in China."

A proposal in this regard has already been handed to the National People's Congress (NPC). The project was listed as a key goal for 2011 to be put into action with the NPC's supervision.