Xi calls for political resolution to Syrian crisis, pledges US$16m aid
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Xi Jinping yesterday called for a political resolution to the Syrian crisis and pledged China’s support for an inclusive political transition.
China has offered US$16 million in humanitarian assistance to help displaced Syrians, many of whom are refugees in neighboring countries, including Jordan and Lebanon, Xi said.
He made the announcement in remarks to Arab delegates to the sixth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in Beijing.
A transitional government should be formed, he said.
“China respects the reasonable demands of the Syrian people, and supports the early adoption of the Geneva communique and the opening of an inclusive political process to bring about a political resolution to the Syrian issue,” Xi told the forum.
The first round of Syria peace talks in Geneva in 2012 stipulated the establishment of a transition government, though subsequent efforts have floundered.
The Chinese government has consistently urged a political resolution for Syria and opposed the use of military force.
Calling Arab countries China’s “good friends and brothers,” Xi said China supported a political settlement to promote peace and stability in the Middle East.
He also announced nearly US$10 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority.
Xi said China and the Arab world should try to broaden their economic relationship beyond the dominance of oil, and look at sectors such as nuclear power, satellites and manufacturing.
Beijing will “encourage Chinese companies to import more non-petroleum products from Arab states to improve the trade mix and raise two-way trade volume from US$240 billion last year to US$600 billion in the coming decade,” Xi said.
Firms will be encouraged to invest in such areas as energy, petrochemicals, agriculture, manufacturing and services to increase China’s non-financial investment in Arab states from US$10 billion to more than US$60 billion over the coming decade, he said.
Breakthroughs need to be made in the areas of nuclear energy, aerospace satellite and new energy, and efforts made to upgrade practical cooperation, Xi said.
The two sides should discuss the possibility of establishing a China-Arab technology transfer center, jointly build an Arab training center for peaceful use of nuclear energy and explore opening China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System to Arab states, he said.
Both sides should also fight extremism, he said.
“We should work together to prevent extremist forces and beliefs from creating faultlines between cultures,” Xi said.
About 200 guests from China and Arab states, including Nabil Elaraby, secretary-general of the League of Arab States, and foreign ministers or representatives attended the forum.
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