On May 31, 2012, the Fifth Ministerial Conference of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) concluded in Hammamet, Tunisia. The Chinese and Arab sides signed a communiqué and a 2012-2014 action plan with the purpose of deepening future strategic cooperation and promoting common development.

Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said at the closing ceremony that delegates raised very practical recommendations during the Fifth Ministerial Conference which, as an event between the East and the East, conveys the common political will of the Arab and the Chinese sides. The Arab states have firm determination to develop and will continue to advance the cooperation with China and jointly cope with challenges.

Addressing the closing ceremony, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that the Fifth Ministerial Conference completed the agenda and achieved the desired results. The two sides signed the communiqué and the 2012-2014 action plan which will play an important role to guide and promote the development of China-Arab relations and CASCF's mechanism building, push foward the China-Arab strategic cooperative relations, increase the mutual benefit between China and the Arab states and bring benefit to the Chinese and the Arab people.

Yang noted that in the circumstances of complex and fluctuating international and regional situation the foundation of China-Arab strategic cooperative relations will grow more solid, the interests of China and the Arab states will be tied more closely, China and the Arab states will more than ever need to strengthen communication and coordination and CASCF will play a more prominent role of guiding the China-Arab cooperation.

He pointed out that it is China's unswerving strategic choice to develop friendship with the Arab states. The two sides will work together to deepen the strategic mutual trust in the long run, steadily carry out the pragmatic cooperation based on common development and lay down a solid foundation for the stable and sustainable development of China-Arab strategic cooperative relations.

At the end of the conference, the two sides signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China and the Memorandum of Understanding on the Health Cooperation Mechanism between the Arab League and the Ministry of Health of China.

The Sixth Ministerial Conference of CASCF will be held in China in 2014.