The third ministerial meeting of China-Arab cooperation Forum opened Wednesday. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi headed Chinese delegation to attend the meeting.

Bahrain's Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Mubarak bin Hamad al-Khalifa, foreign ministers or representatives from 22 Arab countries also attended the meeting. Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa is scheduled to join the meeting later in the day as he is currently in Doha for mediating in the Lebanon talks.

Sheikh Muhammad said the meeting is a new starting point of Arab-China cooperation and it is the common goal to set up a new partnership between Arab countries and China so as to achieve a sustainable development of bilateral ties.

The cooperation between the two sides serves to their mutual interests and will bring win-win outcomes, he added.

China proposed that the two sides should focus their cooperation on energy, investment, engineering project contract and human resource development, Yang said.

China will help to train 1,000 personnel of management and technology for Arab countries every year in the next three years, Yang said.

"China will join hands with Arab nations to make new contribution to consolidating and developing China-Arab friendship, " he added.

Yang is expected to meet with Bahrain's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and hold official talks with his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khaled Bin Ahmed al-Thani on the sidelines of the two-day conference.

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2008)