China-Arab strategic co-op calls for more media ties
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More media links should be formed to deepen cooperation between China and Arab states, said officials and experts at the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum that concluded Friday.
The Arab world "needs to know more about China," said Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa in an exclusive interview with Xinhua at the two-day meeting that began Thursday.
Moussa underlined the importance of developing cultural relations between Arab countries and China, saying "cultural cooperation could help both sides better understand each other."
Adel Sabry, deputy editor-in-chief of Egyptian newspaper Alwafd said, media cooperation proposed at the meeting here should focus on the Internet and television, as these would attract more young people.
Mouldi M'Barek, chief editor of La Presse de Tunisie, a French-language daily newspaper published in Tunisia, suggested the establishment of more journalist exchange programs to further improve media cooperation.
M'Barek said cooperation between China and Arab countries should be expanded to cover fields such as culture, education and tourism, rather than just politics and energy.
Journalists from the Arabic media also suggested systems be set up to increase news flow between China and Arab countries, instead of relying on Western media so much.
"I would know China better if I could get China reports from Chinese media rather than French or Spanish media," said Abdelwahid Rmiche, a reporter from Morocco's newspaper Lehatin.
The Chinese side was working on this, said Guo Xiaoyong, executive deputy director of the China International Publishing Group and a former Arabic-speaking journalist with the Xinhua News Agency.
He said media organizations in China and the Arab states should give preference to information provided by each other to break the Western media's dominance.
Eighty Chinese and Arab media experts and officials attended a symposium Friday to discuss ways of promoting cooperation in the media field.
"The symposium came as a part of the Chinese-Arab Forum's 2008-2010 executive program, which signaled the rapid growth of the media cooperation between the two sides, " said Wang Chen, director of China's State Council Information Office, at the symposium.
Wang also said he hoped Chinese and Arabic media organizations could conduct strategic cooperation to increase political mutual trust and help boost trade between the two sides.
Bahrain's Culture and Information Minister Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa said media could contribute to promoting friendship ties and cooperation between the two sides in the political, economic, trade, cultural, educational and technical domains.
The symposium reviewed the most up-to-date technologies used in media broadcasting, and shed light on the importance of free information exchange and media freedom, according to the participants.
The symposium's program also included a workshop to discuss ways for implementing Chinese-Arab cooperation toward exchange of news, information and documents, especially after China's launch of an Arabic-speaking satellite TV channel.
The two-day ministerial meeting in Tianjin with the theme of "Deepening All-Round Cooperation for Common Development" was attended by delegates from China and 22 Arab countries. A joint communique and an action plan for the China-Arab cooperation from 2010 to 2012 were also signed at the meeting Friday.
Chinese President Hu Jintao paid a historic visit to the Arab League headquarters in Cairo of Egypt in January 2004.
Eight months after Hu's visit, the first China-Arab forum, was staged at the Arab League headquarters in Egypt in September 2004. The series of forums since then have enhanced cooperation between China and Arab countries.
The Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mohmoud Moussa said China, as a major world power and an important international player, has constantly supported Arab nations' just cause and legitimate rights, and Arab nations highly value China's role in the region.
China and Arab states have seen increasing cooperation in fields like politics, trade and culture. Trade hit almost 110 billion U.S.dollars in 2009, about 100 times more than that of 30 years ago.
Wu Bingbing, professor of Arab Language Department at Peking University and researcher at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, said direct media cooperation would clear up misunderstandings and enhance friendship between China and the Arab countries.
"China seeks a balanced relationship and cooperation with the Arab world." Wu said in an interview with Xinhua.
Wu added that the China-Arab cooperation forum helps to realize China's idea of building a harmonious world.
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