On March 22nd, 1945, representatives from 7 Arab countries gathered in Cairo, capital of Egypt in response to the initiative of Egypt. The meeting adopted the Charter of the Arab League and the League of Arab States or Arab League was formed. Its main purpose was to strengthen the cooperative relations between the member states and coordinate their political activities.

The Arab League has altogether 22 members (1999). They are Algeria, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Egypt, Palestine, Bahrain, Djibouti, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan and Comoros.

The Secretary General of Arab League is Dr. Ahmed Esmat Abdul-Maguid who was elected on May 15th, 1991 and continued with this post until today.

Organization of Arab League: (1) Council. As a supreme authority, it comprises representatives from all member states. Its regular sessions are held every March and September but extraordinary session or urgent session can be called anytime at the request of more than two member states. The regular session is presided over in turn by member states with the responsibility of discussing, drafting and supervising the implementation of relevant Arab common policies. Unanimous resolutions are binding upon all member states. With the development of relations between Arab States and the expansion of the scope of cooperation, special ministerial council were established one after another and replaced step by step the related committees under the management of the Council. At present there are 10 special ministerial councils which include Information, Internal Affairs, Justice, Housing, Transportation, Social Affairs, Youth and Sports, Health, Environmental Affairs and Communication. (2) Joint Defence council. Established in accordance with the "Treaty of Joint Defence and Economic Cooperation", the council in made up of by Foreign and Defence Ministers of Member States. It is committed to coordinating defence plans of the member states and developing cooperation of its military capabilities. (3) Social and Economic Council. It is comprised of related ministers and their representatives. It works to attain the objectives made by the LAS in the social and economic fields. It has the sight to set up on demolish any special organization. It has 17 special organizations and bodies under it. (4) Secretariat. It is the permanent administrative organization and the executive organization of both the Council and the special ministerial councils. It is made up of One Secretary who is assisted by a committee formed by deputy secretaries and advisors to the Secretary. (5) Summit. It is the supreme authority and was first held in 1964 with the main purpose of discussing important regional issues. Special summit or urgent summit could be convened at the request of member states. From 21 to 22, Oct, 2000, a special summit meeting of the Arab States was held in Cairo. It decided that a regular meeting of the summit of the Arab States would be held every year.

The Arab League has representative offices or information centers in many countries.

Since its establishment the Arab League has held 21 summits. By the end of 2000, 114 ministerial council meetings have been held, as well as many special or urgent meetings.

Since it came into being in 1945, the Arab League has always attached great importance to the friendly exchanges with China and has sent delegations to China many times .

In May, 1993, at the invitation of Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen, the Secretary-General of Arab League Maguid paid an official visit to China. In August the same year, the Arab League set up its representative office in Beijing. In October 1995, Deputy Secretary General of Arab League Kamal visited China and met with Deputy Foreign Minister Tian Zengpei, Assistant Foreign Minister Wang Changyi, President of Chinese People's Friendship with Foreign countries Association Qi Huaiyuan, Deputy Minister of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party Li Chengren and the Vice Chairman of China International Trade Promotion Council Li Dayou. In May 1996, Chinese President Jiang Zemin met Dr. Maguid, Secretary General of Arab League during an official visit to Egypt. In February 1997, Dr. Maguid went to the Chinese Embassy in Egypt to pay his condolences to the passing of Deng Xiaoping. On July 1st, at the invitation of the Chinese government Dr. Maguid attended the handover ceremony of Hong Kong to China.

In December 1997, Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen met Dr. Maguid at the headquarters of the Arab League during his visit to Egypt. They held consultations on the Middle East problem and Sino-Arab Relations. Vice Premier Qian Qichen put forward a 4 point proposal concerning the development of long term and stable Sino-Arab cooperative relations facing 21st century, which were mutual respect, equal treatment, mutually beneficial cooperation, common development and mutual support in international affairs. Dr. Maguid expressed his endorsement to the proposal.

In the first half of 1998, Secretary-General of Arab League Dr. Maguid wrote many times to Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan to exchange views on the issues of Middle East peace process and Iraq. In September, an independent resolution was first adopted by the 110th session of Arab League foreign ministerial council on the League's relations with China. The resolution appealed to every member state for the full development of relations with China in all fields and proposed the establishment of a mechanism of political consultation between the Secretariat of Arab League and the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

In January 1999, during his visit to Egypt, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met Dr. Maguid at the headquarters of Arab League in Cairo and signed with him the memorandum of understanding concerning the establishment of a mechanism of bilateral political consultation. Tang Jiaxuan also raised a 3 point proposal on developing Sino-Arab relations: strengthening political coordination, expanding economic cooperation and acting in close coordination and mutual support in international affairs.

In May, Li Ruihuan, Chairman of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference visited Egypt and met Secretary General Dr. Maguid at the Arab League headquarters.

On May 12, Secretary-General of the Arab League Dr. Maguid addressed a letter to Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, expressing sympathies on the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by NATO.

On October 20, Secretary-General of the Arab League Dr. Maguid addressed a letter to Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, informing him on the resolution adopted by the September regular session of the Arab League foreign ministerial council on the Palestine issue and Arab-Israeli conflicts.

On December 28, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan in reply to the letter by Secretary-General Maguid, reiterated the position and viewpoint of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue and stating China's concern about that issue and the importance attached to Sino-Arab exchanges and consultation.

On Nov. 29, 2000, Secretary General Maguid, in a letter to Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, expressed appreciation for China's effort with regard to Arab-Israeli conflicts, particularly the attention paid by President Jiang Zemin and the effort he has made for seeking a peaceful and just settlement of the problem.