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Chairman of Saudi-Chinese Business Council: The China-Arab States Expo will deepen exchanges and cooperation, and we hope to join hands with Chinese enterprises to promote the digital transformation of Saudi Arabia

19 August 2021

The fifth China-Arab States Expo, themed "Deepening economic and trade cooperation, jointly building the Belt and Road", opened in Yinchuan, Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on Aug 19. 

Since its inauguration in 2013, the biennial exhibition, whose sponsors included the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and the Ningxia regional government, has become a window for international exchanges and cooperation for Chinese enterprises to "go global" and foreign enterprises to "bring in". It is also an important platform for China and Arab States to jointly build the Belt and Road. 

For the first time, the Expo is held in "online + offline". A series of forum activities were held around six topics, including digital economy, clean energy and cross-border E-commerce. 

In recent years, the development strategies of China and Arab countries have been closely aligned, the two sides have complementary advantages in trade, bright spots in two-way investment and notable achievements in infrastructure cooperation.  Facing challenges posed by the pandemic and changes in the past century, China-Arab Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative have not pressed the "pause button". Instead, they have shown strong resilience and vitality.  In 2020, china-Arab trade reached 239.4 billion US dollars. 

In his speech at the opening ceremony of the conference, Mohammed Al Ajlan, vice Chairman of Ajlan & Bros Holding Group and Chairman of Saudi-Chinese Business Council, said that China-Arab cooperation and friendship are sustainable and unshakable.  "In recent years, China-Saudi Arabia economic and trade cooperation has developed by leaps and bounds. China has become Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner for years in a row, and Saudi Arabia is China's largest trading partner in West Asia and Africa." 

Mohammed has shared the significant progress made in Saudi Arabia in the field of digital economy and the future prospect of cooperation: "as a series of digital economy policy continues to advance, Saudi Arabia has made significant progress in the digital transformation in recent years, the country’s digital competitiveness rated at the top among G20 members in the latest " Global Competitiveness Report ".  Last year, the Saudi government released its national data and AI strategy, and we are very pleased to see that Saudi Arabia has established relevant cooperation with many of the world's leading Chinese technology companies, such as Huawei." 

"In addition, as Saudi Arabia's largest private company in China, Ajlan & Bros Holding Group is looking forward to building on the resources and advantages we have accumulated over the years, especially in the context of further synergy between Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and China's Belt and Road Initiative.  In the future, we will join hands with more outstanding Chinese enterprises to explore cooperation and investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia's digital economy and other key areas, and jointly contribute to the continuous deepening of China-Saudi Arabia cooperation in all fields."  Mohammed points out. 

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