Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the 9th ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, held Monday via video link.

Xi said that back in 2018, at the opening ceremony of the 8th ministerial meeting of the forum, his announcement of the establishment of the China-Arab strategic partnership, and the initiative of forging a China-Arab community with a shared future and jointly promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, were warmly received by Arab states.

Over the past two years, the two sides have strengthened strategic coordination and synergy of actions, and the Sino-Arab future-oriented strategic partnership of comprehensive cooperation and common development has been deepened, Xi said in the letter.

China and Arab states have offered mutual assistance and staunch support to each other, and engaged in close cooperation since the COVID-19 outbreak, Xi said, noting this is a vivid illustration of China and Arab states sharing weal and woe.

Xi said that under the current circumstances, it is more necessary than ever for the two sides to step up cooperation and join hands in tiding over difficulties.

"I hope China and Arab states can take the meeting as an opportunity to enhance strategic communication and coordination, steadily advance cooperation in various fields including pandemic response, promote the building of the China-Arab community with a shared future to continuously go deeper and more practical, so as to better benefit the peoples of the two sides," Xi added.