Middle East, Chinese entrepreneurs seek Silk Road revival

The 2008 China-Middle East Summit opened in Riyadh Monday, bringing together nearly 100 entrepreneurs mainly from China and Saudi Arabia to discuss key opportunities and challenges of the 'New Silk Road.'

The summit was jointly sponsored by the Financial Times and Hong Kong-based First Eastern Investment Group. Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Yang Honglin also took part in the meeting.

Representatives exchanged views on how China and Middle Eastern states, especially the Gulf countries, could strengthen their resources advantages and enhance economic cooperation in the current context of globalization.

Bilateral trade between China and Saudi Arabia has now maintained a strong development momentum, said HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.

However, it is also facing such challenges as dollar depreciation and a high inflation rate, he added.

He hoped the representatives could strive to contribute their own efforts in promoting as well as opening up new prospects for the friendly cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia.

Yang expressed his belief that this summit would blaze a new path for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

The Silk Road, leading from China to Europe, is an interconnected series of east-west routes used 2,100 years ago for trading and cultural exchanges.

In the 21st century, the great East-West trading route has regained major prominence. The New Silk Road -- the revival of trade and investment between the Gulf and Asia -- features large movements of capital as well as goods.

China is a major part of this metaphorical roadway. Trade between the Middle East and China totaled 69 billion U.S. dollars in 2007.

Source:Xinhua