HAMMAMET, Tunisia, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Senior officials of China and the Arab League (AL) member states gathered here Wednesday in preparation for a ministerial meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum that aims to deepen the strategic cooperation between the two sides.

The ninth senior officials' meeting of the cooperation forum, kicked off earlier on the day in the Tunisian eastern seaside resort of Hammamet cheap ray ban, was meant to prepare for the fifth Ministerial Conference of the forum to be held Thursday.

The Wednesday meeting would discuss the agenda of the ministerial conference, as well as the agreements to be signed during the conference, chairman of the Chinese delegation to the forum, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun said at the beginning of the meeting.

The meeting would also review the progress that China and the Arab countries have made in their cooperation during the past several years, and express satisfaction with the implementation of signed agreements.

For his part, Abdullah El Triki, Tunisian secretary of state in charge of Arab and African Affairs and chairman of the Arab delegation to the forum, said at the meeting that the Arab countries are satisfied with the implementation of the action plan issued by the forum's last ministerial conference in 2010, adding that trade volume between China and Arab countries has grown significantly and reached nearly 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2011.

He also hailed the two sides' cooperation in areas such as industry, investment, energy, human resource and culture, and appreciated China's support to the Arab causes.

The Arab countries hope China will further deepen the cooperation and invest or participate in more programs of these countries, El Triki said, adding that the two sides will also discuss the expansion of cooperation in industry and health at Thursday's conference.

Meanwhile, Head of the AL delegation Fake ray bans, Advisor to AL Secretary General, Khalid bin Naif El-Habas, stressed at the meeting that the forum, one of the most comprehensive and effective mechanism for cooperation between Arab and other countries, should play a more significant role and strengthen political negotiations to deal with the international and regional issues after the unrest in the Arab region last year.