On June 23, 2009, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo held a group meeting with heads of Arab delegations to the sixth meeting of Chinese and Arab senior officials for the China-Arab Cooperation Forum at the Great Hall of the People.
During the meeting, Dai said it was a good timing to expand relations between China and Arab countries, as they took the same strategic choice of promoting a new type of partnership of peace and sustainable development. He said the forum, established in 2004, has made fruitful achievements in deepening traditional friendship and boosting mutually beneficial cooperation. Various mechanisms under the framework of the forum are dynamic, greatly promoting the political trust between the two sides and increasing mutual understanding between both peoples. They also help enrich China-Arab friendly cooperation and are conducive to the world peace and development. Dai emphasized China attaches great importance to the building of the forum, adding that it is particularly crucial for China and Arab countries to strengthen cooperation in the context of the profound and complex changes in the international situation. China supported the Arab countries' cause for justice, and would work together to push forward China-Arab friendly cooperation, said Dai.
Abdel Moneim Mabrouk, Sudanese ambassador to the League of Arab States (LAS) and co-chairman of the forum, praised the achievements of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum since its inception. He said Arab countries valued relations with China, and the forum had become an effective platform for cooperation. He hoped that the forum will play an important role in pushing forward cooperation in all areas and building the friendship between Chinese and Arab peoples. He appreciated China's long-standing support to Arab countries' cause for justice, pledging that Arab countries supported China's territorial integrity and reunification.