Peking University, July 2, 2018: The Opening Ceremony of the first China-Middle East Youth Dialogue was successfully held in the Yingjie Exchange Center Sunshine Hall, Peking University, with 60 youths from China and more than 12 countries and regions in the Middle East, aiming at developing youth leadership and enhancing multi-interactions.

The Opening Ceremony was hosted by Professor Fu Zhiming, deputy dean of School of Foreign Languages and featured speeches by both Chinese officials and guests including Tian Gang, vice president of Peking University, Abdullah Saleh Al Saadi, ambassador of Oman to China and head of the Arab Mission, Wu Sike, China’s former special envoy on the Middle East issue, Flynt Leverett, former senior director of White House National Security Middle East and Lisa Blaydes, senior fellow of Stanford Freeman Spoli Institute of International Studies.

Vice president Tian Gang delivering welcome remarks

Tian Gang, who spoke first, stressed the pioneering role of the China-Middle East Youth Dialogue and expressed his hope for the deeper inter-cultural communication among youths in China and the Middle East. Abdullah Saleh Al Saadi praised the positive impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative on the Middle East countries and illustrated his further expectation of both the initiative and the forum. Wu Sike spoke highly of the power of the youths and traced the friendly ties between China and the Middle East, looking forward to the further cooperation in relative countries. Flynt Leverett, discussed the efforts U.S. had made to achieve the balance of the regional situation in the Middle East, meanwhile expressed his opinions on U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East strategies and touched on China’s increasing engagement in regional issues. The final speaker of the Opening Ceremony was Lisa Blaydes, she introduced the status of Islamic studies programs in the United States and gave her suggestions about the importance of using big data, G graph technology as well as the text for further research in this field.

Ambassador Abdullah Saleh Al Saadi making a speech

Delegates from China and the Middle East

The Chinese delegate Shi Yuran, graduate from the Department of Arabic Language and Culture, Peking University, said that the forum provides a great opportunity to communicate with the famous scholars and excellent peers from all around the world, especially the Middle East. The delegate both from China and the Middle East will comprehend each other’s culture and current situation in a deeper and wider sense through the collision of ideas. Nasser Alshaqsi, delegate from Oman, said that the trend of economy globalization is growing in China, and the “one belt one road” initiative is arousing unparalleled attention and support in the Middle East. Youths from different countries should seek for more opportunities to interact with each other to make joint efforts on facing the rising challenges in the new era. China and the Middle Eastern countries are all developing countries, so if countries in the Middle East want to accomplish the economic transformation, they have to learn from China’s pattern of development.

Group photo outside the Yingjie Exchange Center

The China-Middle East Youth Dialogue aims at broadening the horizon of Chinese youth, helping them have a deeper understanding of the history and the status quo of the vast stretch of the region, and developing their comprehension and judgement ability of regional issues. Based on academic discussions, the Dialogue gathers elites from China and the Middle East at Peking University, one of the highest academic institutions in China and creates equal and diverse communication. At the same time, it helps youths from the Middle East appreciate the Chinese culture and analyze China’s economic and social development in the new era.

Written by: Zhao Xinyuan, Cao Yuting
Edited by: Zhang Jiang
Photos by: Wang Xiaopeng, Li Jiahua, Jiang Runze
Source: Peking Univeristy Clinical Research Institute