* More than just a conference, the forum is a snapshot of the Global South's evolving role.

* China-Arab cooperation has long been hailed as a model for South-South collaboration. At this forum, discussions centered on translating this potential into tangible results across media and other key sectors.

* Participants at the event emphasized that China consistently upholds national sovereignty, respects international law, and champions multilateralism, while actively seeking to strengthen the status and influence of Global South nations within the international system.

CAIRO, May 13 (Xinhua) -- "He who travels in company goes far," an Arab proverb, was frequently invoked at the Global South Media and Think Tank Forum Chinese-Arab Partnership Conference, held from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Co-hosted by Xinhua News Agency and the League of Arab States, the two-day forum gathers about 250 delegates from around 110 media outlets, think tanks, government institutions, enterprises from China and Arab countries, as well as from international and regional organizations.

Against the backdrop of the Global South's evolving role, the gathering, under the theme "Pooling Wisdom, Embarking on a New Journey: Jointly Building a China-Arab Community with a Shared Future," aims to deepen mutual learning, foster consensus on development, and contribute to building a high-level China-Arab community with a shared future.

GLOBAL SOUTH'S EVOLVING ROLE

More than just a conference, the forum is a snapshot of the Global South's evolving role. With its rapid economic development, the Global South is exerting greater political influence. In multilateral forums, developing nations are speaking with a more unified voice on climate change, food security, debt relief and a fairer global governance system.

Zhou Pingjian, vice president of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, highlighted the historic scale of this shift.

"The joint march toward modernization by Global South countries is a major event in world history and an unprecedented feat in the process of human civilization," Zhou said.

Regional cooperation mechanisms are also gaining ground. From an expanded BRICS to a more unified Africa and a proactive Arab League, regional organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, are broadening the ambit of their cooperation.

Ahmed al-Saeed, chairman of Bayt Al-Hekma Cultural Group in Egypt, sees the Global South shifting from being a passive player to an active participant carving out its own place.

"It is no longer just an arena for great power competition, but (also features) participants attempting to actively find its own positioning within an international system that continues to evolve," al-Saeed said.

A SOLIDARITY MODEL

China-Arab cooperation has long been hailed as a model for South-South collaboration. At this forum, discussions centered on translating this potential into tangible results across media and other key sectors.

Participants highlighted that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) remains a vital engine, aligning development needs of Arab countries with Chinese know-how.

"China has transformed from a mere trading partner into a strategic investor and infrastructure financier, building roads, bridges, railways, ports and power plants under the BRI framework," said Najeh Missaoui, chairman and chief executive officer of the Tunis Africa News Agency.

In fact, China has already signed BRI cooperation documents with all 22 Arab nations and the Arab League, and has remained the region's largest trading partner for years.

Unveiled at the 10th ministerial conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, the "five cooperation frameworks" proposed by China are designed to elevate bilateral relations to new heights. This blueprint prioritizes innovation-driven growth, investment expansion, energy partnerships, balanced trade and closer good-neighborly ties.

Building on this momentum, China has trained thousands of professionals across a spectrum of fields for its Arab partners, turning collaborative initiatives into concrete achievements. The results are evident across a range of advanced sectors, from 5G networks and satellite technology to railways, refineries, clean energy, industrial parks and artificial intelligence.

More importantly, experts stressed that this model of cooperation is not about forming exclusionary blocs, but about filling the void left by ineffective global governance mechanisms.

Samir Gaid, director of the Algeria Press Service, said that South-South cooperation has become a pillar of Arab countries' foreign policy, which advocates "a multipolar world based on solidarity, cooperation and non-interference in internal affairs."

NEW CHAPTER IN PARTNERSHIP

The world has been rocked by successive crises in recent years. "We are living in an era where crises overlap and challenges ignore borders, from armed conflicts to climate change and widening inequality," Ibrahim Hadiya Al-Majbari, director of the Libyan News Agency, said at the forum. "Against this complex backdrop, the existing global governance system is struggling to cope on its own."

In this context, Carlos Maria Correa, executive director of the South Center, argued that peace, stability and development cannot be achieved in isolation.

"No nation, no matter how powerful, can solve global challenges alone. Likewise, no country is too small to make a meaningful contribution. We must replace zero-sum thinking with win-win cooperation," he said.

Participants at the event emphasized that China consistently upholds national sovereignty, respects international law, and champions multilateralism, while actively seeking to strengthen the status and influence of Global South nations within the international system.

Khaled Mahmoud Orabi, head of foreign affairs at Muscat Media Group, said that China and Arab states have successfully extended their cooperation beyond expectations through peaceful means.

"China has shown a strong creative cooperation approach as well as fruitful cooperation practices beneficial to all," Orabi pointed out.

Kawa Mahmoud, president of the Global Civilization Initiative Research Center, warned that the world now stands at a crossroads, facing a choice between unity and division, and between openness and confrontation.

"Strengthening global governance and advancing the institutionalization and rule of law in international relations are indispensable steps toward achieving shared security and prosperity," he said.