Brookings Doha Centre signs MoU with China’s SASS

The Brookings Doha Centre (BDC) and Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences(SASS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to initiate acollaboration on academic research and scholarly exchange between Chinaand the Middle East.As part of the agreement, the BDC and SASS will collaborate to produceresearch examining policy issues on the political and economic relationsbetween China and the Middle East. They will also convene an annualpolicy-oriented workshop focusing on issues related to the Belt and RoadInitiative (BRI), according to a press statement by the BDC. The first joint workshop took place last week in Shanghai, China, andbrought together prominent experts from China and the Middle East todiscuss BRI’s action plan and policy challenges.“We are pleased to establish this collaboration with a top think-tanksuch as SASS whereby we will produce policy-oriented research on thegrowing strategic relations between the Middle East and China,” said BDCdirector Dr Tarik Yousef. “China’s importance to the security andprosperity of the Middle East will expand significantly in the next fewdecades.”“This collaboration unites the complementary strengths of two leadinginstitutions to generate research and analysis that will provideguidance to academics as wells as policy makers in both China and theMiddle East,” said Prof Yu Xinhui, chancellor of SASS. “We are honouredto be working with the Brookings Doha Centre to contribute to achievingthe objectives of this partnership.”Initiated by Xi Jinping in 2013, the BRI aims to direct considerableresources towards infrastructure projects, including railway networks,ports, highways, pipelines, utility grids and telecommunication networksacross more than 60 countries. It also aims to establish the world’slargest platform for economic co-operation, including policyco-ordination, trade and financial collaboration, and social andcultural co-operation, running through Central Asia, the Middle East,Africa and Europe.