On January 16, 2024, Ambassador Zhang Jianwei met with Secretary General of the Arab Towns Organization (ATO) Abdulrahman Al-Asfour. They exchanged their views on efforts to enhance sub-national cooperation between China and Arab states.

Ambassador Zhang noted that the time-honored China-Arab friendship has been steadily strengthened. More notably, China-Arab relations have come a long way in recent years, with collective efforts from both sides to build a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era. As a key bond of sub-national friendly exchanges, the ATO has made positive contributions to mutual learning between China and Arab states and their common development. China is ready to reinforce cooperation with the ATO to facilitate the establishment of friendly ties between more Chinese and Arab cities and expand the network of friends engaged in China-Arab exchanges and communication.

For his part, Abdulrahman said the ATO will continue to deepen cooperation with China and carry forward the traditional friendship. It will promote sub-national exchanges and cooperation between Arab nations and China, reinforce the mechanism of the Arab-China Towns Forum and drive the sustainable development of our towns, which will enrich the Arab-China community with a shared future.