Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
Published: January 31,2023
China’s experience in education, scientific research and technology is “inspiring” to Arab countries which are seeking to learn and localize China’s technologies, the head of the Arab Union for Education and Scientific Research (Arutic) told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Mohamed Abdel-Fattah Moustafa, chairman of Arutic, stressed that China is “one of the most promising countries” worldwide in all fields.
“China has developed so rapidly in recent years, and it attaches great importance to scientific research,” said the chairman of the Cairo-based non-profit organization.
Education, scientific research and technology localization are areas that have aroused special interest from Arab countries in recent years through their cooperation with other nations, especially China, Moustafa said.
“This interest has motivated Arab countries to expand the teaching of the Chinese language in universities and schools,” he explained, citing the expansion of Chinese investments worldwide and the growing importance of the Chinese yuan as an international currency.
“The closer cooperation has been reflected in the increasing volume of trade exchange between Arab countries and China, which has become the first trade partner for most Arab countries, as well as the growing Chinese investments in all fields in Arab states,” said Moustafa.
Over the past decade, China has been a partner in mega development projects in several Arab countries in the fields of construction, energy, transportation, industrialization and others, he said.
In December last year, leaders of China and Arab states held their first China-Arab States Summit in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, vowing to chart a path to jointly build a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era.
The Egyptian expert noted that the Arab states’ tendency to localize modern technology and advanced industries has pushed them to sign more cooperation and investment agreements with China to establish advanced projects and modern industries at home.
He believed that the increasing China-Arab cooperation is also motivated by the growing Arab awareness that China is “a trustworthy friend.”
China will play a very important role in the coming period through its win-win cooperation with developing and poor countries in Africa, Asia and South America to localize Chinese technologies, raise growth rates and achieve breakthroughs in various development fields in these countries, Moustafa said.
China’s support for developing countries through cooperation in the fields of education, scientific research and technology localization will help “create a new international community based on cooperation, exchange of benefits and mutual win,” he said.
Xinhua
