In recent years, Beijing has sought to build closer ties with Arab states and brokered a detente between Tehran and its long-time foe Saudi Arabia last year.
Beijing also hosted rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah last month for “in-depth and candid talks on promoting intra-Palestinian reconciliation”.
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al Nahyan is among a host of regional leaders and diplomats attending this week’s forum.
Beijing has said Xi’s keynote speech at the opening ceremony on Thursday will be aimed at building “common consensus” between China and Arab states.
Analysts say Beijing can leverage the war in Gaza to boost its standing in the region, framing its efforts to end that conflict against perceived United States inaction.
“Beijing sees the ongoing conflict as a golden opportunity to criticise the West’s double standards on the international scene and call for an alternative global order,” Camille Lons, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.
“When speaking about the war in Gaza, it speaks … to a wider audience, and frames the conflict around the opposition between the West and the Global South,” she added.
