President Xi Jinping called the Arab states "good friends" and important partners in constructing the Belt and Road in his letter of congratulations to the 2017 China-Arab States Expo.

The expo, which brings together Chinese and Arab business leaders to cooperate on science, finance, energy, agriculture, healthcare, tourism and culture, opened on Wednesday in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

The president also hailed the cooperation and achievements between the two sides.

Xi said the Arab world actively responded to and widely supported his proposal that the Belt and Road should be built as a road of peace, prosperity, opening-up as well as innovation, and one that connects different civilizations, during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in May.

The expo is an important platform for China and Arab countries to expand cooperation, he said. During construction of the Belt and Road, China is open to promote shared opportunities with other nations, including Arab states, and to promote peace, Xi added.

The Belt and Road Initiative, which refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, has made landlocked Ningxia the frontier for opening-up and taking the lead in economic cooperation with Arab countries, said Shi Taifeng, Party chief of Ningxia.

So far, at least 1,080 company representatives are participating in the four-day 2017 CAS Expo.

Liu Zhenfang, deputy general manager of China Railway Corp, said rail cooperation has development prospects between China and Arab nations.

"Today, a new page is opened here for the economic cooperation between China and Arab countries, thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping," Kamal Hassan Ali, assistant secretary-general of the League of Arab States, said during the China-Arab Railway Conference of the 2017 CAS Expo.

Contact the writers at wuyunhe@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/07/2017 page1)