Organised by: 

The Muhammad Alagil Chair in Arabia Asia Studies, Asia Research Institute and
The Arabia-Asia Research Cluster, Middle East Institute

Conference Statement

With the growing engagements between Middle Eastern countries and China in the twenty-first century and China’s recent One Belt One Road Initiative, Arab-Chinese interactions have become an increasingly important yet under-studied topic. In order to develop and promote work in this area over the next few years, the China-Arabia Encounters and Engagements Conference invited scholars at different stages of their career in the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, and the US from a variety of disciplines to participate a two-day meeting. Collectively, they investigated all aspects of Arabia-China relations, from the distant past, through the present, and into the future. Topics covered by the panels included travellers trading tales, early geostrategy, politics and diplomacy, Muslims’ Meccan experiences, intellectual exchanges, as well as economic potentials.