POLITICAL ISSUES
SYRIA
1) China appoints special envoy for Syria
Beijing, Tuesday, 29 March 2016
China has appointed Xie Xiaoyan as a special envoy for the Syrian issue. Xie is a former Ambassador to Iran and Ethiopia. He has also served as representative to the African Union.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

UAE
2) Senior Chinese Legislator meets Dubai Ruler
Dubai, Tuesday, 29 March 2016
Arken Imirbaki, Vice-Chairperson of the Standing committee of China’s National People’s Congress paid visit to UAE. He, along with the President of China-Arab Friendship Association held talks with Amal Al-Qubaisi, Speaker of the UAE Federal Council and also with Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al Maktoum.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

ECONOMIC ISSUES
PALESTINE
3) Chinese goods in high demand in Gaza
Gaza, Monday, 28 March 2016
Nabil Abu Hashem, a 63 year old man, together with his two sons, founded Wastco which is a customs clearance and support company in Guangzhou city of China. It has helped Abu Hashem to build a solid base in facilitating the importation of goods from China to Gaza.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

UAE
4) Bank of China joins Dubai derivatives exchange
Dubai, Thursday, 10 March 2016
Bank of China has been appointed as a settlement bank for Dubai commodities Clearing Corporation (DCCC). It is the first Chinese bank to be appointed as a settlement Bank and it would be operating through its Abu Dhabi branch.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

5) UAE’s Ras al-Khaimah to attract Chinese travellers
Dubai, Thursday, 10 March 2016
Haitham Mattar, CEO of Ras al-Khaimah tourism development, recently promoted the Emirate in Beijing, Shanghai Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

6) China leading among Dubai’s trade partners in 2015
Dubai, Tuesday, 29 March 2016
The crown prince of Dubai announced that China secured its place as Dubai’s leading trade partner in 2015 with US$47.95 billion in commerce.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

MULTILATERAL ISSUES
ARAB LEAGUE
7) China, Arab League agreement on co-operation
Cairo, Sunday, 27 March 2016
Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong and Arab League Secretary General Nabil al Araby held a meeting in Cairo and both agreed to step up efforts to improve bilateral co-operation in the fields of technology and culture.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

8) Liu Yandong to pay an official visit to Egypt, Israel, Palestine
Beijing, Friday, 25 March 2016
Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong would pay an official visit to Egypt, Israel and Palestine from 25-31 March. He would also chair the second meeting of China-Israel joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

MIDDLE EAST
9) China’s Policy on Middle East
Beijing, Tuesday, 8 March 2016
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China’s policy on Middle East is to facilitate peace talks with an objective and impartial attitude. China has no intention to seek any sphere of influence.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
EGYPT
10) China-Egypt cultural year celebrated in Cairo
Cairo, Sunday, 27 March 2016
China-Egypt Cultural year was celebrated in Cairo on 26 March 2016 and had several performances including dance, acrobats and representation of Chinese silk dresses.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

11) QATAR
China beat Qatar to retain hope for the 2018 World Cup
Xi’an, Tuesday, 29 March 2016
China’s soccer team had a comfortable 2-0 win over Qatar in Asian Zone Group C qualifier and this victory would help China to make it to the final round of Asia’s 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Source: Xinhua, Beijing

COMPILED BY MINAKSHI SARDAR

Minakshi Sardar is pursuing M. Phil., degree at School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.  Email

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats, to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND. Editor, MEI@ND: P R Kumaraswamy