Editor's Note: Keywords to Understand China: the Belt and Road Initiative is a selection of "China Keywords" entries included in an eponymous multilingual platform to help readers better understand China's B&R Initiative. It is one of the major projects implemented by the China International Publishing Group and the China Academy of Translation.
China-Arab States Cooperation Forum
The launch of a China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) was announced by Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing of China and Secretary-General Amr Moussa of the League of Arab States on January 30, 2004 after President Hu Jintao's visit to the headquarters of the League, and met with Secretary-General Amr Moussa and representatives of this 22-member organization.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the Sixth CASCF Ministerial Meeting on June 5, 2014, President Xi Jinping characterized the CASCF as of strategic importance for the long-term development of bilateral relations and substantive cooperation.
The Seventh CASCF Ministerial Meeting was held in Doha, capital of Qatar, on May 12, 2016. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani each sent a letter of congratulations to the meeting. Under the theme of "Jointly Building the Belt and Road to Reinforce Strategic Cooperation," the meeting reached a broad consensus on bilateral relations and future work of the CASCF.
By July 2016, seven CASCF ministerial meetings and 13 senior officials meetings had been held, and other mechanisms of cooperation have also been functioning well.
China-Gulf Cooperation Council Strategic Dialogue
The first round of China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Strategic Dialogue was held in Beijing in June 2010. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi co-chaired the dialogue with Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates Anwar Mohammed Qarqash, and the GCC Secretary-General Abdul-Rahman al-Attiyah. They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Dialogue.
The second round of strategic dialogue was held in Abu Dhabi in May 2011, and the third round in Beijing in January 2014. President Xi Jinping met with the GCC delegation to the meeting. The two sides agreed to build a China-GCC strategic partnership and resume talks on a China-GCC free trade area. They also developed an action plan for cooperation from 2014 to 2017.
The six GCC member states are located where the ancient Silk Road routes converged. Their strategic location and their development potential make them natural and important partners for the Belt and Road Initiative. The China-GCC dialogue platform is therefore ideally suited for cooperation in this regard.
Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation
The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation is a subregional economic cooperation mechanism involving the six countries located at least partly within the river basin – China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Established in 1992, it is designed to strengthen subregional economic ties and promote economic and social development in the subregion.
The program has been sponsored, coordinated and funded mainly by the Asian Development Bank. Its highest decision-making organ is the GMS Summit of Leaders, held every three years and hosted by a member state on the basis of alphabetical rotation.
Policy direction for the program is discussed at the Ministerial Conference, under which meetings of senior officials and a range of working groups and forums in priority sectors are convened.
Since 1992, substantial progress has been achieved in implementing GMS projects in key areas such as transport, energy, power, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, information and communications, environment, human resources development, and economic corridor development.
China attaches great importance to the GMS economic cooperation, and actively participates in the planning and implementation of projects at different levels and in various fields, in an effort to improve the well-being of all member states.
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