Syria's al-Sharaa Meets Chinese Business Delegation in Damascus as 16 Chinese Firms Join Economic Development Forum
DAMASCUS — Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met a delegation of representatives from Chinese companies and economic groups at the People's Palace in Damascus on November 3 to discuss investment opportunities in Syria and expanded economic cooperation, with a particular focus on industry, construction and reconstruction projects. Syria's ministers of energy, public works and housing, industry, and internal trade and consumer protection attended, along with the head of the Syrian Investment Authority.
The meeting coincided with the opening in Damascus of the Syrian-Chinese Economic Development Forum. Sixteen Chinese companies sent representatives, working in construction, engineering, building materials, heavy equipment, manufacturing, investment, marketing and reconstruction. The two-day forum was organised by the Syrian-Chinese Business Council and the Syrian-Chinese Center for Industrial City Twinning together with Syrian ministries. Its programme included working sessions with the Syrian Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund, the ports and customs authority and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, bilateral business meetings, and field visits to a real-estate development project in Homs, the wool industrial city in Hama and the furniture manufacturing industrial city in Aleppo.
Economy Minister Nidal al-Shaar told the forum's opening that Syria wants to elevate its economic relationship with China from traditional trade exchanges to long-term strategic partnerships based on investment, production and sustainable development, and that Syria aims to build an economy led by the private sector, with the state providing the regulatory and institutional framework. A representative of the Chinese delegation said cooperation opportunities should be turned into practical projects through market research, business matchmaking and joint investment. Syria's Al-Watan newspaper reported that Damascus is opening the door to Chinese investment with tax exemptions and other incentives, with about 80 projects under discussion. Neither the meeting nor the forum announced any specific agreements signed.
Analysts note that real obstacles remain: Syria's investment environment is still fragile, and security issues of long-standing concern to China are among them. China's Foreign Ministry has previously said that developing relations requires removing security obstacles, and Syria has previously pledged in a joint statement with China that it will not become a source of threat to China's security and will not allow any party to use Syrian territory to harm China's security, sovereignty or interests. How those pledges are implemented is widely seen as one of the preconditions for large-scale Chinese investment.
(Source: Syrian Arab News Agency)
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：叙利亚总统 Ahmed al-Sharaa 资料照片（2026年3月）。CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (file photo, March 2026). CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
