Abu Dhabi: The Arabic book launch of The Governance of China — authored by Chinese President Xi Jinping — was held in Abu Dhabi on Sunday during an official ceremony to celebrate the Arabic translation of the book.
Officials from both the UAE and China were present at the book launch, which took place at Manarat Al Saadiyat, with the event also being held to mark the upcoming visit of President Xi to the UAE on Thursday. His visit to the UAE will kick off a number of UAE-China events in the country, including the UAE-China Week from July 17 to 24, which will see a number of events celebrating the best of Chinese culture as well as the close relationship between the two countries.
“Our wise leadership has set itself to promoting the values of communication and the appreciation of other cultures as inspired by the legacy of the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who realised the importance of opening up to the world in order to consolidate the UAE’s status as a global destination of tolerance and a place for the convergence of humanity,” said Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development.
Al Kaabi said the UAE was looking to further strengthen its relations with China in several different sectors including culture. “We want to deepen our cultural and knowledge relations with China, which have already come a long way. In this aspect, we have managed a number of important achievements with initiatives related to book translations, publishing and distribution, as well as scholarship programmes for students along with courses teaching Arabic and Chinese.”
Al Kaabi also spoke positively on President Xi’s book, which she said could benefit readers across the Arab world with the management strategies and experiences laid out in the book.
Historic visit
Meanwhile, the UAE’s former ambassador to China, Omar Al Bitar, called the upcoming visit of President Xi to the UAE a historical and significant one, highlighting how this was the Chinese President’s first foreign visit since beginning his new term.
“This is a historical visit, it comes as President Jinping’s first visit out of China since he was reelected as the president, and so that is something significant and sends an important message.
“The visit will definitely take the relationship between both countries to a higher level, and will also consolidate the existing strategic relations between the UAE and China well into the future,” he added.
Al Bitar also spoke positively on the multifaceted relationship between the two countries, which he said went beyond trade and security.
“Public diplomacy and soft power is what really brings nations and people together, and this was my technique when I served as ambassador from 2010 until mid-2016.
“I didn’t view my role as just a political one, I approached things from the human side as well, using cultural diplomacy to build friendships with the people of China and to try and understand their culture,” he added.
“I believe that having events like the upcoming cultural week between the UAE and China are very important in advancing the relations between both countries, and also deepening our exchanges and understanding of each other,” Al Bitar said.
