RIYADH - Chinese and Arab media organizations have launched an initiative to deepen bilateral media cooperation to help cement the China-Arab friendship and jointly contribute to the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future.

The joint initiative on deepening Arab-China media exchanges and cooperation was launched by the China Media Group (CMG) and the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) on Monday, the opening day of the 2022 Chinese-Arab Media Cooperation Forum held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.

Through the initiative, the two organizations urged Chinese and Arab media outlets to strengthen mutual learning, adhere to media responsibilities, deepen exchanges and cooperation, and contribute to elevating the China-Arab strategic relations to a higher level.

In his video address to the forum, acting Saudi Minister of Media Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi said that Arab countries regard China as a reliable partner for achieving common development in all fields.

He also expressed the hope that the forum would boost cultural exchanges and foster people-to-people connections between China and Arab states.

In a speech via video link to the forum, CMG President Shen Haixiong said that the CMG would take the event as an opportunity to have deeper exchanges and communication with all sectors of the Arab community and to strengthen pragmatic cooperation, in a bid to contribute to the building of the China-Arab community with a shared future for the new era.

During the forum, the CMG and the Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) launched the jointly-produced TV show "Heart to Heart and Hand in Hand," which tells the stories of Saudi citizens living in China and Chinese people living in the kingdom, to kick off a broadcast show of Chinese movies and TV shows in Arab countries.

SBA Chief Executive Officer Mohammed bin Fahd Al-Harithi hailed the remarkable progress made in the development of China-Arab relations in the past few years, while expressing the hope that Arab and Chinese media outlets would take the forum as an opportunity to increase exchanges and cooperation, so as to jointly advance the building of the China-Arab community with a shared future.

The forum, co-sponsored by the CMG and Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Media, gathered more than 150 government officials, representatives of media organizations, and scholars from China and 22 Arab countries.