The 3rd “China-Middle East Cooperation Forum: Sharing Development, Building Security and Creating the Future” was held on June 27, 2023 in a combination of offline and online formats.

The symposium was co-organized by the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences of UAE University, the CASS-UAE Center for China Studies, the Middle East Society of China, and the Gulf Research Center of CASS. More than 50 government officials, diplomatic envoys, experts and scholars from China and Middle East countries attended the conference.

After the opening ceremony and the keynote speech, the conference discussed three themes: "Global Civilization Initiative: Friendly Exchange and Civilizational Appreciation between China and Middle East Countries", "Global Development Initiative and Belt and Road Initiative: Development Cooperation between China and Middle East", and "Global Security Initiative: Security Cooperation between China and Middle East".

Professor Liu Zhongmin and Professor Ding Long from the Middle East Studies Institute (MESI) of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) were invited to give academic speeches entitled "Implementation of the Global Development Initiative is conducive to the long-term stability and prosperity of the Middle East" and "Implementation of the Global Civilization Initiative and Strengthening the Mutual Appreciation of Sino-Arab Civilization" respectively.