On April 21, 2002, Premier Zhu Rongji met with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo.

Zhu said that the Arab League is one of the first regional state-to-state organizations in the world and plays an important role in strengthening unity and cooperation between Arab countries and maintaining world peace and stability. Developing friendship and cooperation between China and the Arab League and Arab countries is China's set foreign policy. China has maintained contact and conducted sound cooperation with the Arab League and its member states on bilateral and international issues over the past years. China attaches great importance to its ties with the Arab League. One of the purposes of his ongoing visit to Egypt is to boost Sino-Arab relations. Regarding a proposal raised by the Arab League foreign ministers' council on establishing the Arab-Chinese cooperation forum in 2000, China supports the idea and is ready to set up such a forum between the two sides in a step-by-step manner and in the spirit of seeking truth from facts and gradual development. He expressed hope that Sino-Arab cooperation in the areas of economy, trade, culture, science and technology will be further promoted in the future.

Moussa hailed active efforts made by Chinese leaders to boost Sino-Arab ties. The Arab League greatly appreciateds it. The Arab League places great importance on developing its ties with China, and is pleased to see that bilateral cooperation has been even closer against the backdrop of the current tension in the Mideast region. The two sides have been implementing agreements and consensus. The Arab side hopes that Arab-Chinese cooperation in a variety of areas, including the economic field, will develop further in the coming years.

The two sides also exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East. Zhu said that under the prerequisite of Israel's withdrawal from the Palestinian-controled areas, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be solved eventually based on relevant U.N. resolutions and under the land-for-peace principle. China appreciates the Arab peace plan adopted at the Beirut Arab
summit.

Moussa said that peace serves as a precondition for development in the region, and will benefit all countries in the region. The Arab League hopes that the U.N. Security Council will play an even greater role on the Middle East issue.