Envoy hails Jordanian-Sino ties as China marks 70th anniversary

AMMAN — The Ninth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum will be held in Jordan next year, which will be "another great event" in the history of China-Jordan and China-Arab relations, said Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Pan Weifang on Wednesday.

The envoy's remarks came during a reception held in Amman to celebrate China’s 70th anniversary, noting that Jordanian-Chinese relations have been continuously deepened on multiple levels, thanks to the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and the Belt and Road Initiative, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Thursday.

China is Jordan's third largest trading partner and second largest source of imports, he highlighted, adding that in 2018, bilateral trade totalled $3.184 billion, an increase of 3.25 per cent year-on-year.

The Jordanian delegation to the Shanghai-held 2nd China International Import Expo, due to take place next November, will attend for the first time as a guest of honour, he said.

Touching on the Chinese assistance extended to the Kingdom, the envoy also went over the Chinese-funded Attarat Oil Shale Power Plant, which will meet 10-15 per cent of Jordan's electricity demand, drawing attention to the memorandum of understanding signed by the Chinese company Huawei and three Jordanian universities to provide ICT training for 3,000 Jordanian officials and students.

Talks also covered the Jordanian-Chinese negotiations over the implementation of Salt Road reconstruction, water conservancy equipment and food aid, among other assistance projects, highlighting that the first batch of eight advanced customs inspection equipment provided by the Chinese government is expected to arrive at Aqaba Port in early October.

China has grown into the world’s second largest economy, industrial producer and trader of goods, Weifang said, underlining that China has contributed to over 30 per cent of global growth in recent years, making it the No.1 "engine" of world economic growth, according to Petra.

Over the past years, China's per capita national income increased from about $70 to $9,470, with more than 700 million poor in China emerging from poverty, forming the world's largest middle-income group of more than 400 million people, in addition to China building a basic pension insurance and medical insurance system covering more than 900 million people, he added. 

The diplomat also said that the Belt and Road Initiative has opened up new space for world economic growth, set up a new platform for international trade and investment, as well as expanded new practices for improving global governance.