Development in Arab states under Belt, Road initiative

A top Chinese Foreign Ministry official said realizing development in Arab states within the framework of the China-brokered Belt and Road initiative would help uproot the reasons behind extremism.

The Belt and Road initiative provides a visionary blueprint for global economic development in the new world order.

Director General of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of West Asian and North African Affairs Deng Li said the most important reason for the spread of extremism is failure to achieve development.

Deng made the remarks during a seminar on the dialogue among the Arab and Chinese cultures and a roundtable on countering extremism that were held in China's Chengdu city on Wednesday.

The gatherings were attended by government officials, religious scholars and Chinese and Arab experts.

While participating in the seminar and the round table, Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawqy Allam underlined the importance of international cooperation and exchanging expertise in countering terrorism.

He called on all countries and institutions concerned to rally efforts in this respect.

Allam noted that Darul Iftaa had laid down an all-out strategy for combating terrorism.

The conferees agreed that development and cooperation are the key ways of eradicating extremism and terrorism.