The Brookings Doha Centre (BDC) and Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to initiate a collaboration on academic research and scholarly exchange between China and the Middle East.
As part of the agreement, the BDC and SASS will collaborate to produce research examining policy issues on the political and economic relations between China and the Middle East. They will also convene an annual policy-oriented workshop focusing on issues related to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), according to a press statement by the BDC.
The first joint workshop took place last week in Shanghai, China, and brought together prominent experts from China and the Middle East to discuss BRI’s action plan and policy challenges.
“We are pleased to establish this collaboration with a top think-tank such as SASS whereby we will produce policy-oriented research on the growing strategic relations between the Middle East and China,” said BDC director Dr Tarik Yousef. “China’s importance to the security and prosperity of the Middle East will expand significantly in the next few decades.”
“This collaboration unites the complementary strengths of two leading institutions to generate research and analysis that will provide guidance to academics as wells as policy makers in both China and the Middle East,” said Prof Yu Xinhui, chancellor of SASS. “We are honoured to be working with the Brookings Doha Centre to contribute to achieving the objectives of this partnership.”
Initiated by Xi Jinping in 2013, the BRI aims to direct considerable resources towards infrastructure projects, including railway networks, ports, highways, pipelines, utility grids and telecommunication networks across more than 60 countries. It also aims to establish the world’s largest platform for economic co-operation, including policy co-ordination, trade and financial collaboration, and social and cultural co-operation, running through Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.