Al-Jasser to represent country at Arab-China forum

Deputy Culture and Information Minister Abdullah Al-Jasser will represent Saudi Arabia at the Arab-China forum scheduled for next week.
The forum is organized by the People’s Republic of China and the Arab League.
Al-Jasser said that the forum is an important framework to enhance and build cultural communication and collaboration between the Arab world and China.
The forum represents a key pillar to boost and coordinate Arab-Chinese cultural policies, which includes launching joint cultural events and opening the 3rd Arab cultural festival in the east Asian country, he said.
Al-Jasser said that Saudi Arabia and China are linked by bilateral agreements in the culture and media fields thanks to a five-year agreement that was signed between the two governments in Riyadh.
Saudi cultural days were organized in Beijing and Chinese days in Riyadh, he said.
The Arab-Chinese forum comes as part of decisions made by Arab culture ministers within the Arab League framework.
The Kingdom will present a detailed report at the forum on Saudi-Chinese cultural communication and proposals on how to boost cooperation between the two countries, he said. The two governments established official diplomatic relations in July 1990.
Sino-Saudi trade has increased significantly since 2000. In 2005, trade increased 59 percent, allowing Saudi Arabia to overtake Angola as China’s largest source of oil. In 2008, Sino-Saudi bilateral trade was worth 32.5 billion euros, making Saudi Arabia China’s largest trading partner in western Asia.