CAIRO, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The recent push to deepen cooperation between Arab and Chinese legal institutions will help facilitate Chinese investment across the Arab region, Egyptian and Chinese legal experts said on Tuesday.
Commenting at a recent meeting in Cairo between the Arab Court of Arbitration, affiliated with the Arab League, and China's Maritime Silk Road (MSR) Law Ascertainment Center, the experts said the event marked a step toward establishing a clearer legal framework to support Chinese investment in Arab states.
"This meeting resulted in a cooperation protocol aimed at removing investment barriers across Egypt and the Arab region, especially with major economic powers like China," said May Serafy, academic director of the Faculty of Law at the Egyptian Chinese University and a board member of the Arab Court of Arbitration.
Held on April 13, the Cairo meeting witnessed the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Arab Court of Arbitration and the MSR Law Ascertainment Center, to strengthen legal collaboration and streamline cross-border investment procedures between the two sides.
"The Chinese investments coming to Egypt and Arab states often face a lack of accessible legal information on how to establish projects, navigate local regulations, or resolve disputes," Serafy told Xinhua.
"This cooperation will bridge that gap and make Egypt, in particular, a more strategic and attractive destination for Chinese investors," she pointed out.
The meeting was attended by Counselor Farouk Sultan, chairman of the Arab Court of Arbitration and former president of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court, alongside Counselor Abdel Wahab Abdel Razek, president of Egypt's Senate and chairman of the arbitration court's board of trustees, as well as other senior Egyptian officials and legal experts.
From the Chinese side, participants included Mao Xiaoxiao, executive secretary of the Egyptian Chinese Entrepreneurs Association, An Shouzhi, chair of the Maritime Silk Road Chamber of International Arbitration Promotion who joined the meeting online, and Liu Xueqi, deputy director of the MSR Law Ascertainment Center, along with other representatives of legal institutions and law firms.
"This meeting provides a valuable platform for Arab countries and China to hold in-depth exchanges, clarify legal systems, and identify potential areas of cooperation," Liu told Xinhua.
"It promotes mutual understanding and builds trust essential for cross-border investment," the Chinese lawyer added.
She emphasized that fostering a multilateral legal cooperation mechanism and embracing innovation in legal technology would further enhance the investment environment.
"We should actively explore new digital tools to improve the efficiency and quality of legal services between China and Arab countries," Liu said.
China is the largest trading partner of many Arab countries. The trade volume between China and Arab countries surged from 36.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2004 to 431.4 billion dollars in 2022, according to the General Administration of Customs.
Over the past two decades, China and Arab countries have joined hands to implement major infrastructure projects, including railways, ports, industrial parks, and energy facilities.
(Contributed by Zhang Jian and Mahmoud Fouly, edited by Li Shimeng with Xinhua Silk Road, lishimeng@xinhua.org)
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