Sharjah 24 – KUNA: Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Thursday for more cooperation between China and Arab countries to promote "Belt and Road" initiative.

According to the Chinese News Agency (Xinhua), this came in a congratulatory letter to the fifth China-Arab States Expo that opened today in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, saying China is willing to jointly promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with Arab states.

"The traditional friendship between the peoples of China and Arab states has become stronger over time," President Xi said in the letter.

He noted that China and Arab states have in recent years continued to strengthen strategic coordination and synergy of actions, and the joint construction of the Belt and Road has achieved fruitful results.

"China is ready to work with Arab states to seek cooperation and development, promote peaceful development, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, jointly build the Belt and Road with high quality, elevate China-Arab strategic partnership to a higher level, and jointly build a China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era," he added.

The expo opened on Thursday in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia.