On September 8, 2022, the Foreign Ministry hosted the third China-Arab States Forum on Reform and Development supported by the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development. Special Envoy Zhai Jun of the Chinese Government on the Middle East Issue, Assistant Secretary-General Khalil Ibrahim Al Thawadi of the League of Arab States, Chairman of the Department of Community Development in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mugheer Khamis Al Khali, and President of Shanghai International Studies University Li Yansong attended and addressed the opening ceremony. Ambassador Li Chen for China-Arab States Cooperation Forum Affairs of the Foreign Ministry chaired the meeting. More than 20 experts and scholars from China, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco and other countries focused on the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and discussed grand plans for China-Arab development.

In his speech, Special Envoy Zhai Jun mainly briefed the GDI initiated by President Xi Jinping. He stressed that China and Arab states should further build consensus on development and strengthen strategic synergy; pursue mutual benefit and win-win results and deepen practical cooperation; uphold an innovation-driven approach and foster new development impetus; jointly promote green development, explore sustainable development paths, implement the GDI with practical actions, and build a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era.

Experts and scholars from China and Arab states had in-depth exchanges and discussions on the topics of "Strengthening the Synergy of Development Strategies and Jointly Advancing the Global Development Initiative" and "Upholding an Innovation-Driven Approach to Achieve Robust, Green and Sound Development". Experts at the meeting highly praised the GDI, saying that the initiative is conducive to bringing the development issue back to the center of the international agenda and conforms to the common will and direction of efforts of China and Arab states to seek peace, development and cooperation. The two sides should constantly build consensus and form synergy for promoting China-Arab development, well complement each other's strengths, promote practical cooperation in areas of scien-tech innovation, food security, desertification prevention and control, seawater desalination, climate change, vaccine research and development, digital economy and poverty reduction, and provide intellectual support for the implementation of the GDI in Arab states, so as to contribute to building a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era.

The China-Arab States Forum on Reform and Development has been hosted by the Foreign Ministry for two sessions in 2018 and 2019 with the support of the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development, which has set up an effective platform for China and Arab states to strengthen exchanges of governance, reform and development experience.