On September 12-13, the third "China-Arab States University Presidents Forum" hosted by the Ministry of Education and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Regional government was held in Yinchuan. Presidents from 77 universities in 28 countries and 36 domestic universities gathered to have in-depth discussions about the OBOR(One Belt and One Road) project and determine strategic cooperation priorities, innovate cooperation modes and build a China-Arab demonstration zone for cultural exchanges. Lin Huiqing, Deputy Minister of Education, attended the forum opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. On behalf of UIBE, Vice President Zhao Zhongxiu, attended the forum and made a speech.

In his speech, Vice President Zhao Zhongxiu reviewed the long history of education cooperation between Arab States and UIBE, introduced the history and achievements of Arabic major, and pointed out that UIBE had made its due contributions to China-Arab education cooperation, in terms of training students in Arabic, training for Arab students in China and government officials from Arab States. He also noted that in recent years, UIBE has cultivated more than 500 students from Arab countries. In collaboration with Bureau of Expositions in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, they wrote a trilingual Annual Report on Bilateral Economic and Trade Relations Development Process in Chinese, English and Arabic, making new contributions to deepening China-Arab higher education cooperation. In addition, combining "One Belt and One Road" initiative, Vice President Zhao Zhongxiu suggested strengthening foreign language teaching programs, promoting communication between faculty and students as well as conducting joint researches. His suggestions were approved by China-Arab university presidents in attendance and by leaders from Ministry of Education.

During the conference, Vice President Zhao Zhongxiu had extensive and in-depth exchanges with other Chinese and Arabic university presidents. He introduced the characteristics and advantages of some disciplines including economics, management, law and Arab and their research directions at UIBE, and expressed the need for cooperation between UIBE and Arab States universities, which gained a positive response from the presidents. He also had talks with presidents from King Saudi University, Qatar University and Tunisian education officials, and entered into a collaboration and signed cooperation letter of intent with president of Jordan Albeyt University.

The "China-Arab States University Presidents Forum" is not only an important mechanism of China-Arab education cooperation, but also one of the two existing international education cooperation mechanisms in China. The biennial forum aims to help establish a stable, long-term and sustainable relationship of colleges and universities between China and Arab States, and to promote bilateral pragmatic cooperation and common progress in the field of higher education.

Zhang Cuiping, Director of Department of International Relations and Dinglong, Deputy Dean of School of Foreign Studies accompanying Vice President Zhao Zhongxiu at the forum.