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The Arab League and China agreed to strengthen cooperation in the field of natural gas, renewables and energy efficiency on the basis of mutual interest and experience sharing, a joint statement announced on Thursday.
According to the joint statement issued after the Arab-China Cooperation Conference in Egypt's capital Cairo, which is currently running between Nov. 5 and 8, the Arab Union and China agreed to strengthen cooperation in electricity, natural gas and renewable energy.
Both parties agreed to strengthen cooperation for energy efficiency and support small and medium-sized institutions working in this area. They also decided to increase energy security and reduce the environmental impact of energy consumption, according to the statement.
"The importance of strengthening mutual cooperation is emphasized by the fact that Arab countries have about half of the world's oil reserves and China has modern technologies in oil exploration, transportation, refining and manufacturing," the statement read.
The TurkStream natural gas pipeline project, which will carry Russian gas to Turkey and Europe, will be completed by the end of 2019 as planned, according to Asli Esen, the project's spokeswoman on Tuesday. During a visit to the TurkStream facility located in the Russian coastal city of Anapa, Esen said the offshore section would be 95 percent completed by the end of October.The Russkaya compressor station was a main focus of the visit being the first of the facilities built for the TurkStream project. The station is an important part of Gazprom's giant network consisting of 172 thousand kilometers of natural gas pipeline and 254 compressor stations.The station's official Anatoly Koltakov explained that the station's main function is to provide pressure to allow natural gas to travel 930 kilometers along the Black Sea ensuring a capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters is carried to Turkey.Serbia could join TurkStream pipeline: Energy ministerOnly 3.5 kilometers from the Russkaya station, is Anapa where a landfall facility was built - the last destination before the pipeline's sub-sea section begins its journey to Turkey."Following the completion of the Russkaya compressor station, the construction of the TurkStream landfall facility was completed and the construction of TurkStream on the Russian coast was completed. The robots that will provide the annual inspection and maintenance of TurkStream's submarine will also enter the pipeline through this special arrangement here," said facility's official Anton Barishev.Natural gas transmission will take around 52 hours from Russia's Anapa to the destination in Turkey, at Kiyikoy located in the Kirklareli province in northwestern Turkey, according to the officials.Gazprom to build TurkStream's 2nd land section in 2019The control room where natural gas transmission will be monitored will be located at the headquarters of the TurkStream project company in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.According to the information provided by the TurkStream authorities, the project was designed to operate for at least 50 years.The project consists of two lines, each with a length of 930 kilometers and totaling 31.5 billion cubic meters of capacity.TurkStream to supply natural gas from Jan. 1, 2020
By end of 2019 TurkStream will be operational: Gazprom
Arab countries are the most important source of crude oil for Beijing.
In 2016, the bilateral trade volume between Arab countries and China totaled $171 billion. China's exports to the Arab countries accounted for $101 billion, while the volume of Arab countries' exports to China was $70 billion.
Beijing, in its efforts to attain a more prominent global role, launched 'Belt and Road' initiative (BRI), which aims at creating trade routes and relations from China to deep in Europe similar to Silk Road. China invested billions of dollars and promised to pour more to mainly infrastructure, transport and other projects to link the destination countries to its trade centers.
The cooperation with the Arab countries is in line with its policy of projecting power and creating clout trough direct and indirect investments.
China wants to resolve problems with the United States through talks but it must respect China's choice of development path and interests, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday ahead of a meeting with the U.S. leader in Argentina.China and the United States have put tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of each other's goods and U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to set tariffs on the remainder of China's $500 billion-plus exports to the United States if their blistering trade dispute cannot be resolved.Trump's administration has also accused China of interfering in U.S. politics, charges China strongly denies, and the two have sparred over the disputed South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims.Still, Trump and Xi plan to meet on the sidelines of a G20 summit, which is being held in Argentina at the end of November and early December, for high-stakes talks as the two countries try tentatively to get ties back on track.Moody’s sees escalation of US-China trade war, dip in global growthMeeting former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Beijing, Xi said he and Trump would have a "deep exchange of views" in Argentina, the official Xinhua news agency reported.China and the United States should correctly judge each other's strategic intentions, and while China wanted to resolve problems via talks, the United States should respect China's choice of development path and legitimate interests, Xi added.Xi said attention should be paid to "the increase in negative voices related to China in the United States", without elaborating.Speaking earlier, the Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said Xi and Trump reached an important consensus on the healthy and stable development of bilateral ties in a telephone call last week.China pledges $150 million aid to El Salvador as relationship deepensTheir meeting at the G20 summit would be of "great significance" in resolving bilateral problems, Wang said."That will be of great significance for both sides to manage differences effectively and resolve issues in a practical way," Wang told reporters.Wang said China stood ready to work with the United States to remove disruptions, build trust and prepare fully for the meeting."We believe that meeting will help chart the course for China-U.S. relations," he said, following talks with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.Wang added that the more complex the situation is, the more important it is for both sides to remain "level-headed".Senior China diplomat says US, China can resolve trade dispute through talksXI-TRUMP CALLRelations between the two countries have warmed since the Xi-Trump telephone call, laying the ground for their G20 meeting.In a further sign of improving ties, Chinese Politburo member Yang Jiechi and Defence Minister Wei Fenghe are set to hold a security and diplomatic dialogue with U.S. officials in Washington on Friday.Meeting U.S. national security adviser John Bolton in Washington ahead of those talks, Yang said on Wednesday that the two sides should "properly manage differences and carefully prepare to ensure positive results in the Argentina meeting", China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement."China is committed to working with the U.S. to achieve a no-confrontational, conflict-free, mutually respectful co-operation in which both sides win," added Yang, who heads the ruling Communist Party's foreign affairs commission and outranks Wang.However, speaking in Singapore at a forum on Wednesday, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said there was a risk of an economic "Iron Curtain" falling between China and the United States unless China carried out reforms and that some people in the United States would like to "divorce" China.Beijing can help avoid this happening by ending practices like forced technology transfers, and providing better protection for intellectual property, and by also genuinely allowing market forces to drive key decisions."If China doesn't move quickly, I suspect the calls for divorce will intensify," Paulson said. 
Respect our choices, China's Xi says ahead of Trump G20 meeting
China's great investment in Middle East
In recent years, Beijing has boosted cooperation with Arab countries given the important role they play in BRI. Arab countries, as natural partners of the BRI, link several countries. Therefore, the region is critical to the BRI’s success and in order to contribute to the region’s stability, China puts emphasis on its development.
According to international media, Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Beijing Summit in July in which 21 Arab countries participated, pledged a package of $20 billion in loans, and about $106 million in financial aid, as part of what he called an "oil and gas plus" model to spur economic growth in the region.
Xi also underlined at the summit that Beijing sought to increase cooperation in the field of renewable energy and hydrocarbons.